Man  of  Mark  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^ 

-^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  by  Anthony  Hope 


Chicago  and  New  York  *♦* 
Rand,  McNally  &  Company 


■^^I 


A  MAN  OF  MARK.     '^^^^^ 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  MOVEMENT  AND  THE  MAN. 

In  the  year  18S4  the  Republic  of  Aureata- 
land  was  certainly  not  in  a  nourishing  con- 
dition. Although  most  happily  situated 
(it  lies  on  the  coast  of  South  America, 
rather  to  the  north — I  mustn't  be  more  defi- 
nite), and  gifted  with  an  extensive  terri- 
tory, nearly  as  big  as  Yorkshire,  it  had  yet 
failed  to  make  that  material  progress 
which  had  been  hoped  by  its  founders.  It  is 
true  that  the  State  was  still  in  its  infancy, 
being  an  offshoot  from  another  and  larger 
realm,  and  having  obtained  the  boon  of 
freedom  and  self-government  only  as  re- 
cently as  1871,  after  a  series  of  political 
convulsions  of  a  violent  character,  which 
may  be  studied  with  advantage  in  the  well- 

3 


/R9r)^ 


4  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

known  history  of  "The  Making  of  Aureata- 
land,"  by  a  learned  professor  of  the  Jere- 
miah P.  Jecks  University  in  the  United 
States  of  America.  This  profound  historian 
is,  beyond  all  (|iiestion,  accurate  in  attribut- 
ing the  chief  share  in  the  national  move- 
ment to  the  energy  and  ability  of  the  first 
President  of  Aureataland,  his  Excellency 
President  Marcus  W.  Whittingham,  a  na- 
tive of  Virginia.  Having  enjoj^ed  a  personal 
friendship  (not,  unhappily,  extended  to 
public  affairs)  with  that  talented  man,  as 
will  subsequently  appear,  I  have  great 
pleasure  in  publicly  endorsing  the  pro- 
fessor's eulogium.  Not  only  did  the  Presi- 
dent bring  Aureataland  into  being,  but  he 
moulded  her  whole  constitution.  "It  was 
his  genius"  (as  the  professor  observes  with 
proi^riety)  "which  was  fired  with  the  idea 
of  creating  a  truly  modern  state,  instinct 
with  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race.  It  was  his  genius  which  cast 
aside  the  worn-out  traditions  of  European 
dominion,  and  taught  his  fellow-citizens 
that  they  were,  if  not  all  by  birth,  yet  one 
and  all  by  adoption,  the  sons  of  freedom." 


THE  MOVEMENT  AND  THE  MAN.  5 

Any  mistakes  in  the  execution  of  this  fine 
conception  must  be  set  down  to  the  fact 
that  the  President's  great  powers  were 
rather  the  happy  gift  of  nature  than  the 
result  of  culture.  To  this  truth  he  was 
himself  in  no  way  blind,  and  he  w^as  accus- 
tomed to  attribute  his  want  of  a  liberal 
education  to  the  social  ruin  brought  upon 
his  family  by  the  American  Civil  War,  and 
to  the  dislocation  thereby"  produced  in  his 
studies.  As  the  President  was,  when  I  had 
the  honor  of  making  his  acquaintance  in 
the  year  1880,  fifty  years  old  if  he  was  a 
day,  this  explanation  hardly  agrees  with 
dates,  unless  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the 
President  was  still  pursuing  his  education 
when  the  war  began,  being  then  of  the  age 
of  thirty-five,  or  thereabouts. 

Starting  under  the  auspices  of  such  a 
gifted  leader,  and  imbued  with  so  noble  a 
zeal  for  progress,  Aureataland  was,  at  the 
beginning  of  her  history  as  a  nation,  the 
object  of  many  fond  and  proud  hopes.  But 
in  spite  of  the  blaze  of  glory  in  which  her 
sun  had  risen  (to  be  seen  duly  reflected  in 
the  professor's  work)  her  prosperity,  as  I 


6  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

have  said,  was  not  maintained.  The  coun- 
try was  well  suited  for  a f;Ti culture  and 
grazing",  but  the  population — a  very  queer 
mixture  of  races — was  indolent,  and  more 
given  to  keeping  holidays  and  festivals 
than  to  honest  labor.  Most  of  them  were 
unintelligent;  those  who  were  intelligent 
made  their  living  out  of  those  who  weren't, 
a  method  of  subsistence  satisfactory  to  the 
individual,  but  adding  little  to  the  aggre- 
gate of  national  wealth.  Only  two  classes 
made  fortunes  of  an}-  size — Government 
officials  and  bar-keepers — and  even  in  their 
case  the  wealth  was  not  great,  looked  at  by 
an  English  or  American  standard.  Pro- 
duction was  slack,  invention  at  a  standstill, 
and  taxation  heavy.  I  suppose  the  Presi- 
dent's talents  were  more  adapted  to  found- 
ing a  State  in  the  shock  and  turmoil  of 
war,  than  to  the  dull  details  of  administra- 
tion; and  although  he  was  nominally  as- 
sisted by  a  Cabinet  of  three  Ministers,  and 
an  Assembly  comprising  twenty-five  mem- 
bers, it  was  on  his  shoulders  that  the  real 
work  of  government  fell.  On  him,  there- 
fore, the  moral  responsibility    must    also 


THE  MOVEMENT  AND  THE  MAN.  7 

rest — a  burden  the  President  bore  with  a 
cheerfulness     and     equanimity     almost 
amounting  to  unconsciousness. 

I  first  set  foot  in  Aureataland  in  March, 
1880,  when  I  was  landed  on  the  beach  by 
a  boat  from  the  steamer  at  the  capital  town 
of  Whittingham.  I  was  a  young  man,  en- 
tering on  my  twenty-sixth  year,  and  full 
of  pride  at  finding  myself  at  so  early  an  age 
sent  out  to  fill  the  responsible  position  of 
manager  at  our  Aureataland  branch.  The 
Directors  of  the  Bank  were  then  pursuing 
what  mav  without  unfairness  be  called  an 
adventurous  policj',  and,  in  response  to  the 
urgent  entreaties  and  glowing  exhorta- 
tions of  the  President-,  they  had  decided  on 
establishing  a  branch  at  Whittingham.  I 
commanded  a  certain  amount  of  interest 
on  the  Board,  inasmuch  as  the  Chairman 
owed  my  father  a  sum  of  money,  too  small 
to  mention  but  too  large  to  pay,  and  when, 
led  by  the  youthful  itch  for  novelty,  I  ap- 
plied for  the  post,  I  succeeded  in  obtaining 
my  wish  at  a  salary  of  a  hundred  dollars 
a  month.  I  am  sonw  to  say  that  in  the 
course  of  a  later  business  dealing  the  bal- 


8  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

ance  of  obligation  shifted  from  the  Ohair- 
nian  to  mj  father,  an  unhappy  event  which 
deprived  nie  of  my  hold  on  the  Company 
and  seriously  influenced  my  conduct  in 
later  days.  When  I  arrived  in  Aureataland 
the  bank  had  been  open  some  six  months, 
under  the  guidance  of  Mr,  Thomas  Jones, 
a  steady-going  old  clerk,  who  was  in  future 
to  act  as  chief  (and  indeed  only)  cashier 
under  my  orders. 

I  found  Whittingham  a  pleasant  little 
city  of  about  live  thousand  inhabitants, 
picturesquely  situated  on  a  fine  bay,  at  the 
spot  where  the  river  Marcus  debouched 
into  the  ocean.  The  town  was  largely  com- 
posed of  Government  buildings  and  hotels, 
but  there  was  a  street  of  shops  of  no  mean 
order,  and  a  handsome  square,  called  the 
"Piazza  1871,"  embellished  with  an  eques- 
trian statue  of  the  President.  Round  about 
this  national  monument  were  a  large  num- 
ber of  seats,  and,  hard  by,  a  cafd  and  band- 
stand. Here,  I  soon  found,  was  the  center 
of  life  in  the  afternoons  and  evenings.  Go- 
ing along  a  fine  avenue  of  trees  for  half  a 
mile  or  so  you  came  to  the  "Golden  House," 


THE  MOVEMENT  AND  THE  MAN.  9 

the  President's  official  residence,  an  im- 
posing villa  of  white  stone  with  a  gilt 
statue  of  Aureataland,  a  female  figure  sit- 
ting on  a  plough-share,  and  holding  a  sword 
in  the  right  hand,  and  a  cornucopia  in  the 
left.  By  her  feet  lay  what  was  apparently 
a  badly-planed  cannon  ball;  this,  I  learnt, 
was  a  nugget,  and  from  its  presence  and 
the  name  of  the  palace,  I  gathered  that  tlie 
President  had  once  hoped  to  base  the  pros- 
perity of  his  young  republic  on  the  solid 
foundation  of  mineral  wealth.  This  hope 
had  been  long  abandoned. 

I  have  alwavs  hated  hotels,  so  I  lost  no 
time  in  looking  round  for  lodgings  suitable 
to  my  means,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to 
obtain  a  couple  of  rooms  in  the  house  occu- 
pied by  a  Catholic  priest.  Father  Jacques 
Bonchretien.  He  was  a  very  good  fellow, 
and,  though  we  did  not  become  intimate, 
I  could  always  rely  on  his  courtesy  and 
friendly  services.  Here  I  lived  in  great 
comfort  at  an  expense  of  fifty  dollars  a 
month,  and  I  soon  found  that  my  spare 
fifty  made  me  a  well-to-do  man  in  Whitt- 
ingham.     Accordingly  I  had  the  entree  of 


10  A   MAN   OF    MARK. 

all  the  best  houses,  including-  the  Golden 
House,  and  a  very  pleasant  little  society  we 
had;    occasional  dances,  frequent  dinnei-s, 
and  plenty  of  lawn  tennis    and    billiards 
prevented  me  feeling   the    tedium    I    had 
somewhat  feared,  and  the  young  ladies  of 
Whittingham  did  their  best  to  solace  my 
exile.     As  for  business,  I  found  the  bank 
doing  a  small  business  but  a  tolerably  sat- 
isfactory one,  and   if  we  made  some  bad 
debts,  we  got  high  interest    on  the    good 
ones,  so  that,  one  way  or  another,  I  man- 
aged to  send  home  pretty  satisfactory  re- 
ports, and  time  passed  on  quietly  enough 
in  spite  of  certain  manifestations  of  discon- 
tent   among   the    population.     These   dis- 
turbing   phenomena    were    first    brought 
prominently  to  my  notice  at  the  time  when 
I  became  involved  in  the  fortunes  of  the 
Aureataland  national  debt,  and  as  all  my 
story  turns  on  this  incident,  it  perhaps  is 
a  fit  subject  for  a  new  chapter. 


CHAPTER    11. 

A  FINANCIAL  EXPEDIENT. 

When  our  branch  was  established  at 
Whitting-ham  there  had  been  an  arrange- 
ment made  between  ourselves  and  the  Gov- 
ernment, by  the  terms  of  which  w^e  were 
to  have  the  Government  business,  and  to 
occupy,  in  fact,  much  that  quasi-offlcial  po- 
sition enjoyed  by  the  Bank  of  England  at 
home.  As  a  quid  pro  quo,  the  bank  was  to 
lend  to  the  Republic  the  sum  of  500,000 
dollars,  at  six  per  cent  The  President  was 
at  the  time  floating  a  loan  of  one  million 
dollars  for  the  purpose  of  works  at  the  har- 
bor of  Whittingham.  This  astute  ruler 
had,  it  seemed,  hit  on  the  plan  of  instituting 
public  works  on  a  large  scale  as  a  correct- 
ive to  popular  discontent,  hoping  thereby 
not  only  to  develop  trade,  but  also  to  give 
employment  to  many  persons  who,  if  un- 
occupied, became  centers  of  agitation. 
Such  at  least  was  the  official  account  of  his 
policy ;   whether  it  was  the  true  one  I  saw 

11 


12  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

reason  to  doubt  later  on.  As  regards  this 
loan,  my  office  was  purely  ministerial.  The 
arrangements  were  duly  made,  the  proper 
guarantees  given,  and  in  June,  1880,  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  handing  over  to  the  Presi- 
dent the  500,000  dollars.  I  learnt  from  him 
on  that  occasion  that,  to  his  great  gratifi- 
cation, the  balance  of  the  loan  had  been 
taken  up. 

"We  shall  make  a  start  at  once,  sir,"  said 
the  President,  in  his  usual  confident  but 
.  quiet  way.  "In  two  years  Whittingham 
harbor  will  walk  over  the  world.  Don't  be 
afraid  about  your  interest.  Your  Di- 
rectors never  made  a  better  investment." 

I  thanked  his  Excellency,  accepted  a 
cigar,  and  withdrew  with  a  peaceful  mind. 
.  I  had  no  responsibility  in  the  matter,  and 
cared  nothing  whether  the  Directors  got 
their  interest  or  not.  I  was,  however, 
somewhat  curious  to  know  who  had  taken 
up  the  rest  of  the  loan,  a  curiosity  which 
was  not  destined  to  be  satisfied  for  some 
time. 

The  works  were  begun  and  the  interest 
was  paid,  but  T  cannot  say  that  the  harbor 


A   FINANCIAL   EXPEDIENT.  13 

progressed  rapidly ;  in  fact,  I  doubt  if  more 
than  100,000  dollars  ever  found  their  way 
into  the  pockets  of  contractors  or  workmen 
over  the  job.  The  President  had  some 
holes  dug  and  some  walls  built;  having 
reached  that  point,  about  two  years  after 
the  inteiwiew  above  recorded,  he  suddenly 
drew  off  the  few  laborers  still  employed, 
and  matters  came  to  a  dead  stop. 

It  was  shortly  after  this  occurrence  that 
I  was  honored  with  an  invitation  to  dine 
at  the  Golden  House.  It  was  in  the  month 
of  July,  1882.  Needless  to  say,  I  accepted 
the  invitation,  not  only  because  it  was  in 
the  nature  of  a  command,  but  also  because 
the  President  gave  uncommonly  good  din- 
ners, and,  although  a  bachelor  (in  Aureata- 
land  at  all  events),  had  as  well  ordered  a 
household  as  I  have  ever  known.  My  grati- 
fication was  greatly  increased  when,  on  mj^ 
arrival,  I  found  myself  the  only  guest,  and 
realized  that  the  President  considered  mv 
society  in  itself  enough  for  an  evening's  en- 
tertainment. It  did  cross  my  mind  that 
this  might  mean  business,  and  I  thought 
it  none  the  worse  for  that. 


14  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

We  dined  in  the  famous  veranda,  the 
scene  of  so  many  brilliant  Whittiuoham 
functions.  The  dinner  was  beyond  re- 
proach, the  wines  perfection.  The  Presi- 
dent was  a  charming  companion.  Though 
not,  as  I  have  hinted,  a  man  of  much  educa- 
tion, he  had  had  a  wide  experience  of  life, 
and  had  picked  up  a  manner  at  once  quiet 
and  cordial,  which  set  me  completely  at  my 
ease.  Moreover,  he  paid  me  the  compli- 
ment, always  so  sweet  to  youth,  of  treating 
me  as  a  man  of  the  world.  With  conde- 
scending confidence  he  told  me  many  tales 
of  his  earlier  days;  and  as  he  had  been 
everywhere  and  done  everything  where  and 
which  a  man  ought  not  to  be  and  do,  his  con- 
versation was  naturally  most  interesting. 

"I  am  not  holding  myself  up  as  an  ex- 
ample," he  said,  after  one  of  his  most  un- 
usual anecdotes.  "I  can  only  hope  that  my 
public  services  will  be  allowed  to  weigh  in 
the  balance  against  my  private  frailties." 
He  said  this  with  some  emotion. 

"Even  your  Excellency,"  said  I,  "may  be 
content  to  claim  in  that  respect  the  same 
indulgence  as  Caesar  and  Henri  Quatre.'* 


A  FINANCIAL   EXPEDIENT.  15 

"Quite  so,"  said  the  President.  "I  sup- 
pose they  were  not  exactly — eh?" 

"I  believe  not,"  I  answered,  admiring  the 
President's  readiness,  for  he  certainly  had 
a  very  dim  notion  who  either  of  them  was. 

Dinner  was  oA^er  and  the  table  cleared 
before  the  President  seemed  inclined  for 
serious  conversation.  Then  he  called  for 
cigars,  and  pushing  them  toward  me  said: 

"Take  one,  and  fill  your  glass.  Don't  be- 
lieve people  who  tell  you  not  to  drink  and 
smoke  at  the  same  time.  Wine  is  better 
without  smoke,  and  smoke  is  better  with- 
out wine,  but  the  combination  is  better 
than  either  separately." 

I  obeved  his  commands,  and  we  sat 
smoking  and  sipping  in  silence  for  some 
moments.  Then  the  President  said,  sud- 
denlv: 

"Mr.  Martin,  this  country  is  in  a  peril- 
ous condition." 

"Good  God,  your  Excellency,"  said  I,  "do 
you  refer  to  the  earthquake?"  (There  had 
been  a  slight  shock  a  few  days  before.) 

"No,  sir,"  he  replied,  "to    the    finances. 


16  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

The  harbor  works  have  proved  far  more 
expeDsive  than  1  anticipated.  1  hold  in  my 
hand  the  engineer's  certificate  that  903,000 
dollars  have  been  actually  expended  on 
them,  and  they  are  not  finished — not  by 
any  means  finished." 

They  certainly  were  not;  they  were 
hardly  begun. 

"Dear  me,"  I  ventured  to  say,  "that  seems 
a  good  deal  of  money,  considering  what 
there  is  to  show  for  it." 

"You  cannot  doubt  the  certificate,  Mr. 
Martin,"  said  the  President. 

I  did  doubt  the  certificate,  and  should 
have  liked  to  ask  what  fee  the  engineer 
had  received.  But  I  hastily  said  it  was,  of 
course,  beyond  suspicion. 

"Yes,"  said  he  steadily,  "quite  beyond 
suspicion.  Y^ou  see,  Mr.  Martin,  in  my  po- 
sition I  am  compelled  to  be  liberal.  The 
Government  cannot  set  other  employers 
the  example  of  gT-inding  men  down 
by  low  wages.  However,  reasons  apart, 
there  is  the  fact.  We  cannot  go  on 
without  more  money;  and  I  may  tell 
you,  in  confidence,  that  the  political  situa- 


A  FINANCIAL   EXPEDIENT.  17 

tion  makes  it  imperative  we  should  go  on. 
Not  only  is  my  personal  honor  pledged,  but 
the  Opposition,  Mr.  Martin,  led  by  the 
Colonel,  is  making  itself  obnoxious — yes,  I 
may  say  very  obnoxious." 

"The  Colonel,  sir,"  said  I,  with  a  freedom, 
engendered  of  dining,  "is  a  beast." 

"Well,"  said  the  President,  with  a  toler- 
ant smile,  "the  Colonel,  unhappily  for  the 
country,  is  no  true  patriot.  But  he  is  pow- 
erful; he  is  rich;  he  is,  under  myself  alone, 
in  command  of  the  army.  And  moreover, 
I  believe  he  stands  well  with  the  Signorina. 
The  situation,  in  fact,  is  desperate.  I  must 
have  money,  Mr.  Martin.  Will  your  Di- 
rectors make  me  a  new  loan?" 

I  knew  very  well  the  fate  that  would  at- 
tend any  such  application.  The  Directors 
were  already  decidedly  uneasy  about  their 
first  loan;  shareholders  had  asked  awk- 
ward questions,  and  the  Chairman  had 
found  no  small  diflflculty  in  showing  that 
the  investment  was  likely  to  prove  either 
safe  or  remunerative.  Again,  only  a  fort- 
night before,  the  Government  had  made  a 
formal  application  to  me  on  the  same  sub- 


18  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

ject  I  cabled  the  Directors,  and  received 
a  prompt  reply  in  the  single  word  "Toot- 
siims,"  which  in  onr  code  meant  "Must  abso- 
lutely and  finally  decline  to  entertain  any 
applications."  I  communicated  the  con- 
tents of  the  cable  to  Sefior  Don  Antonio  de 
la  Casabianca,  the  Minister  of  Finance,  who 
had,  of  course,  communicated  them  in  turn 
to  the  President. 

I  ventured  to  remind  his  Excellency  of 
these  facts.  He  heard  me  with  silent  at- 
tention. 

"I  fear,"  I  concluded,  "therefore,  that  it 
is  impossible  for  me  to  be  of  any  assistance 
to  your  Excellency." 

He  nodded,  and  gave  a  slight  sigh.  Then, 
with  an  air  of  closing  the  subject,  he  said: 

"I  suppose  the  Directors  are  past  reason. 
Help  yourself  to  a  brandy  and  soda." 

"Allow  me  to  mix  one  for  you,  sir,"  I  an- 
swered. 

While  I  was  preparing  our  beverages  he 
remained  silent.  When  I  had  sat  down 
again  he  said: 

"You  occupy  a  very  responsible  position 


A  FINANCIAL  EXPEDIENT.  19 

here  for  so  young  a  man,  Mr.  Martin — not 
beyond  your  merits,  I  am  sure." 

I  bowed. 

"They  leave  you  a  pretty  free  hand,  don't 
they?" 

I  replied  that  as  far  as  routine  business 
went  I  did  much  as  seemed  good  in  mv  own 
eves. 

"Routine  business?  including  invest- 
ments, for  instance?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,"  said  I;  "investments  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  business — discounting  bills 
and  putting  money  out  on  loan  and  mort- 
gage over  here.  I  place  the  money,  and 
merely  notify  the  people  at  home  of  what  I 
have  done." 

"A  most  proper  confidence  to  repose  in 
you,"  the  President  was  good  enough  to  say. 
"Confidence  is  the  life  of  business;  you 
must  trust  a  man.  It  would  be  absurd  to 
make  you  send  home  the  bills,  and  deeds, 
and  certificates,  and  what  not.  Of  course 
they  wouldn't  do  that." 

Though  this  was  a  statement,  somehow 
it  also  sounded  like  a  question,  so  I  an- 
swered : 


20  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

"As  a  rule  they  do  me  the  compliment  of 
taking  my  word.  The  fact  is,  they  are,  as 
your  Excellency  says,  obliged  to  trust  some- 
body." 

"Exactly  as  I  thought.  And  you  some- 
times have  large  sums  to  place ?^' 

At  this  point,  notwithstanding  my  re- 
spect for  the  President,  I  began  to  smell  a 
rat. 

"Oh,  no,  sir,"  I  replied,  "usually  very 
small.  Our  business  is  not  so  extensive  as 
we  could  wish." 

"Whatever,"  said  the  President,  looking 
me  straight  in  the  face,  "whatever  may  be 
usual,  at  this  moment  you  have  a  large  sum 
— a  very  respectable  sum — of  money  in 
your  safe  at  the  bank,  waiting  for  invest- 
ment." 

"How  the  devil  do  you  know  that?"  I 
cried. 

"Mr.  Martin!  It  is  no  doubt  my  fault;  I 
am  too  prone  to  ignore  etiquette;  but  you 
forget  3' ourself." 

I  hastened  to  apologize,  although  I  was 
pretty  certain  the  President  was  contem- 


A  FINANCIAL   EXPEDIENT,  21 

plating  a  queer  transaction,  if  not  flat  bur- 
glary. 

"Ten  thousand  pardons,  your  Excellency, 
for  my  most  unbecoming  tone,  but  may  I 
ask  how  you  became  possessed  of  this  infor- 
mation?" 

"Jones  told  me,"  he  said,  simply. 

As  it  would  not  have  been  polite  to  ex- 
press the  surprise  I  felt  at  Jones'  simplic- 
ity in  choosing  such  a  confidant,  I  held  my 
peace. 

"Yes,"  continued  the  President,  "owing 
to  the  recent  sales  of  your  real  property  in 
this  country  (sales  due,  I  fear,  to  a  want  of 
confidence  in  my  administration),  you  have 
at  this  moment  a  sum  of  300,000  dollars  in 
the  bank  safe.  Now  (don't  interrupt  me, 
please)  the  experience  of  a  busy  life  teaches 
me  that  commercial  reputation  and  probity 
depend  on  results,  not  on  methods.  Your 
Directors  have  a  prejudice  against  me  and 
my  Government.  That  prejudice  you,  with 
your  superior  opportunities  for  judgment, 
cannot  share.  You  will  serve  your  employ- 
ers best  by  doing  for  them  what  tliey 
haven't  the  sense  and  courage  to  do  for 


22  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

thomselTes.  I  propose  that  you  should  as- 
sume the  responsibility  of  lending  me  this 
money.  The  transaction  will  redound  to 
the  profit  of  the  bank.  It  shall  also,"  he 
added  slowly,  "redound  to  your  profit." 

I  began  to  see  my  way.  But  there  were 
difficulties. 

"What  am  I  to  tell  the  Directors?"  I 
asked. 

"You  will  make  the  usual  return  of  in- 
vestments and  debts  outstanding — mort- 
gages— loans  on  approved  security — but 
you  know  better  than  I  do." 

"False  returns,  your  Excellency  means?" 

"They  will  no  doubt  be  formally  inac- 
curate," the  President  admitted. 

"What  if  they  ask  for  proofs?"  said  I. 

"Sufficient  unto  the  day,"  said  the  Presi- 
dent. 

"You  have  rather  surprised  me,  sir,"  I 
said,  "but  I  am  most  anxious  to  oblige  you, 
and  to  forward  the  welfare  of  Aureataland. 
There  are,  however,  two  points  which  occur 
to  me.  First,  how  am  I  to  be  insured 
against  not  getting  my  interest?  That  I 
must  have." 


A  FINANCIAL   EXPEDIENT.  23 

"Quite  so,"  he  interrupted.  "And  the 
second  point  I  can  anticipate.  It  is,  what 
token  of  my  gratitude  for  your  timely  as- 
sistance can  I  prevail  on  you  to  accept?" 

"Your  Excellency's  knowledge  of  human 
nature  is  surprising." 

"Kindly  give  me  your  attention,  Mr.  Mar- 
tin, and  I  will  try  to  satisfy  both  your  very 
reasonable  requirements.  You  have  300,- 
000  dollars;  those  you  will  hand  over  to  me, 
receiving  in  return  Government  6  per  cent, 
bonds  for  that  amount.  I  will  then  hand 
back  to  you  65,000  dollars;  45,000  you  will 
retain  as  security  for  your  interest;  in  the 
event  of  any  failure  on  the  part  of  Aureata- 
land  to  meet  her  obligations  honorably,  you 
will  pay  the  interest  on  the  whole  300,000 
out  of  that  sum.  That  secures  you  for  more 
than  two  vears  against  absolute  failure  of 
interest,  which  in  reality  you  need  not  fear. 
Till  the  money  is  wanted,  you  will  have  the 
use  of  it.  The  remaining  20,000  I  shall  beg 
of  you  to  accept  as  your  commission,  or 
rather  as  a  token  of  my  esteem;  20,000  ab- 
solutely— 45,000  as  long  as  Aureataland 
pays  interest!     You  must  admit  I  deal  with 


24  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

you  as  one  gentleman  with  another,  Mr. 
Martin.  In  the  result,  your  Directors  get 
their  interest,  I  get  my  loan,  you  get  your 
bonus.  We  are  all  benefited,  no  one  is 
hurt!  All  this  is  effected  at  the  cost  of  a 
harmless  stratagem." 

I  was  full  of  admiration.  The  scheme 
was  very  neat,  and,  as  far  as  the  President 
and  myself  were  concerned,  he  had  been  no 
more  than  just  in  pointing  out  its  advan- 
tages. As  for  the  Directors,  they  would 
probably  get  their  interest;  anyhow,  they 
would  get  it  for  two  years.  There  was  risk, 
of  course;  a  demand  for  evidence  of  my  al- 
leged investments  or  a  sudden  order  to  real- 
ize a  heavy  sum  at  short  notice  would  bring 
the  house  about  my  ears.  But  I  did  not  an- 
ticipate this  contretemps,  and  at  the  worst 
I  had  my  20,000  dollars,  and  could  make 
myself  scarce  therewith.  These  calculations 
were  quite  correct  at  the  moment,  but  I  up- 
set them  afterward  by  spending  the  dollars 
and  by  contracting  a  tie  which  made  flight 
from  Aureataland  a  distasteful  alternative. 

"Well,  Mr.  Martin,"  said  the  President, 
"do  you  agree?" 


A   FINANCIAL   EXPEDIENT.  25 

I  still  hesitated.  Was  it  a  moral  scruple? 
Probably  not,  unless,  indeed,  prudence  and 
morality  are  the  same  thing-. 

The  president  rose  and  put  his  hand  on 
my  shoulder. 

"Better  say  yes.  I  might  take  it,  you 
know,  and  cause  you  to  disappear — believe 
me,  with  reluctance,  Mr.  Martin.  It  is  true 
I  shouldn't  like  this  course.  It  would  per- 
haps make  my  position  here  untenable. 
But  not  having  the  money  would  certainly 
make  it  untenable." 

I  saw  the  force  of  this  argument,  and, 
gulping  down  my  brandy  and  soda,  I  said: 

"I  can  refuse  your  Excellency  nothing." 

"Then  take  your  hat  and  come  along  to 
the  bank,"  said  he. 

This  was  sharp  work. 

"Your  Excellency  does  not  mean  to  take 
the  money  now — to-night?"  I  exclaimed. 

"Not  to  take,  Mr.  Martin — to  receive  it 
from  you.  We  have  made  our  bargain. 
What  is  the  objection  to  carrying  it  out 
promptly?" 

"But  I  must  have  the  bonds.  Thev  must 
be  prepared,  sir," 


26  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

"They  are  here,"  he  said,  taking  a  bundle 
from  the  drawer  of  a  writing-table,  "300- 
000  dolUirs  6  per  cent,  stock,  signed  by  my- 
self, and  countersigned  by  Don  Antonio. 
Take  your  hat  and  come  along." 

I  did  as  I  was  bid. 


CHAPTER   III. 

AN  EXCESS  OF  AUTHORITY. 

It  was  a  beantifiil  moonlight  night,  and 
Whittingham  was  looking  her  best  as  we 
made  our  way  along  the  avenue  leading  to 
the  Piazza  1871.  The  President  walked 
briskly,  silent  but  serene;  I  followed,  the 
trouble  in  mv  mind  reflected  in  a  somewhat 
hang-dog  air, and  I  was  not  much  comforted 
when  the  President  broke  the  stillness  of 
the  night  by  saying: 

"You  have  set  your  foot  on  the  first  rung 
of  the  ladder  that  leads  to  fame  and  wealth, 
Mr.  Martin." 

I  was  rather  afraid  I  had  set  it  on  the  first 
rung  of  the  ladder  that  leads  to  the  gallows. 
But  there  the  foot  was;  what  the  ladder 
turned  out  to  be  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
gods;  so  I  threw  off  care,  and  as  we  entered 
the  Piazza  I  pointed  to  the  statue,  and  said: 

"Behold  my  inspiring  example,  your  Ex- 
cellency !" 

27 


28  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

"By  Jove,  yes,"  he  replied,  "I  make  the 
most  of  my  opportunities." 

I  knew  he  regarded  me  as  one  of  his  op- 
portunities, and  was  making  the  most  of 
me.  This  is  not  a  pleasant  point  of  view  to 
regard  one's  self  from,  so  I  changed  the  sub- 
ject, and  said: 

"Shall  we  call  for  Don  Antonio?" 
"Why?" 

"Well,  as  he's  Minister  of  Finance,  I 
thought  perhaps  his  presence  would  make 
the  matter  more  regular." 

"If  the  presence  of  the  President,"  said 
that  official,  "can't  make  a  matter  regular, 
I  don't  know  what  can.  Let  him  sleep  on. 
Isn't  his  signature  on  the  bonds  enough?" 
What  could  I  do  ?  I  made  one  more  weak 
objection : 

"What  shall  we  tell  Jones?" 
"What  shall  we  tell  Jones?"  he  echoed. 
"Really,  Mr.  Martin,  you  must  use  your  dis- 
cretion as  to  what  you  tell  your  employes. 
Y  ou  can  hardly  expect  me  to  tell  Jones  any- 
thing, beyond  that  it's  a  fine  morning." 

We  had  now  reached  the  bank,  which 
stood  in  Liberty  Street,  a  turning  out  of  the 


AN    EXCESS    OF   AUTHORITY.  29 

Piazza.  I  took  out  my  key,  unlocked  the 
door,  and  we  entered  together.  We  passed 
into  my  inner  sanctum,  where  the  safe 
stood. 

"What's  in  it?"  asked  the  President. 

"United  States  bonds,  and  bills  on  New 
York  and  London,"  I  replied. 

"Good,"  said  he.     "Let  me  look." 

I  unlocked  the  safe,  and  took  out  the  se- 
curities. He  examined  them  carefully, 
placing  each  after  due  scrutiny  in  a  small 
handbag,  in  which  he  had  brought  down  the 
bonds  I  was  to  receive.  I  stood  by,  holding 
a  shaded  candle.  At  this  moment  a  voice 
cried  from  the  door: 

"If  you  move  you're  dead  men!" 

I  started  and  looked  up.  The  President 
looked  up  without  starting.  There  was 
dear  old  Jones,  descended  from  his  upper 
chamber,  where  he  and  Mrs.  Jones  resided. 
He  was  clad  only  in  his  night-shirt,  and  was 
leveling  a  formidable  gun  full  at  the  au- 
gust head  of  his  Excellency. 

"Ah,  Mr.  Jones,"  said  the  latter,  "it's  a 
fine  morning." 

"Good   heavens,   the   President!"     cried 


30  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

Jones;  "and  Mr.  Martin!  Why,  what  on 
earth,  gentlemen — ?" 

The  President  gently  waved  one  hand 
toward  me,  as  if  to  say,  "Mr.  Martin  will 
explain,"  and  went  on  placing  his  securities 
in  the  bag. 

In  face  of  this  crisis  my  hesitation  left 
me. 

"I  have  received  a  cable  from  Europe, 
Jones,"  said  I,  "instructing  me  to  advance  a 
sum  of  money  to  his  Excellency;  I  am  en- 
gaged in  carrying  out  these  instructions." 

"Cable?"  said  Jones.     "Where  is  it?" 

"In  my  pocket,"  said  I,  feeling  for  it. 
"No!  Wh}^,  I  must  have  left  it  at  the  Golden 
House." 

The  President  came  to  my  assistance. 

"I  saw  it  on  the  table  just  before  we 
started.  Though  I  presume  Mr.  Jones  has 
no  right — ?" 

"None  at  all,"  I  said  briskly. 

"Yet,  as  a  matter  of  concession,  Mr.  Mar- 
tin will  no  doubt  show  it  to  him  to-mor- 
row?" 

"Strictly  as  a  matter  of  concession  per- 


AN    EXCESS    OF   AUTHORITY.  31 

haps  I  will,  though  I  am  bound  to  say  that 
I  am  surprised  at  your  manner,  Mr.  Jones/' 

Jones  looked  sadl}^  puzzled, 

"It's  all  irregular,  sir,"  said  he. 

"Hardly  more  so  than  your  costume!" 
said  the  President,  pleasantly. 

Jones  was  a  modest  man,  and  being  thus 
made  aware  of  the  havoc  the  draught  was 
playing  with  his  airy  covering,  he  hastily 
closed  the  door,  and  said  to  me  appeal- 
ingly: 

"It's  all  right,  sir,  I  suppose?" 

"Perfectl}^  right,"  said  I. 

"But  highly  confidential,"  added  the  Pres- 
ident. "And  you  will  put  me  under  a  per- 
sonal obligation,  Mr.  Jones,  and  at  the  same 
time  fulfill  your  duty  to  your  employers,  if 
you  preserve  silence  till  the  transaction  is 
officially  announced.  A  man  who  senses 
me  does  not  regret  it." 

Here  he  was  making  the  most  of  another 
opportunity — Jones  this  time. 

"Enough  of  this,"  I  said.  "I  will  go  over 
the  matter  in  the  morning,  and  meanwhile 
hadn't  you  better  go  back  to — " 


32  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

"Mrs.  Jones,"  interjected  his  Excellency. 
"And  mind,  silence,  Mr.  Jones." 

He  walked  up  to  Jones  as  he  said  this, 
and  looked  hard  at  him. 

"Silent  men  prosper  best,  and  live  long- 
est, Mr.  Jones." 

Jones  looked  into  his  steely  eyes,  and  sud- 
denly fell  all  of  a  tremble. 

The  President  was  satisfied.  He  ab- 
ruptly pushed  him  out  of  the  room,  and  we 
heard  his  shambling  steps  going  up  the 
staircase. 

His  Excellency  turned  to  me,  and  said, 
with  apparent  annoyance: 

"You  leave  a  great  deal  to  me,  Mr.  Mar- 
tin." 

He  had  certainly  done  more  than  tell 
Jones  it  was  a  fine  morning.  But  I  was  too 
much  troubled  to  thank  him;  I  was  think- 
ing of  the  cable.  The  President  divined 
my  thoughts,  and  said: 

"You  must  prepare  that  cable." 

"Yes,"  I  replied;  "that  would  reassure 
him.  But  I  haven't  had  much  practice  in 
that  sort  of  thing,  and  I  don't  quite  know — " 

The  President  scribbled  a  few  words  on  a 
bit  of  paper,  and  said : 


AN    EXCESS    OF    AUTHORITY.  33 

"Take  that  to  the  Post  Office,  and  they'll 
give  you  the  proper  form;  you  can  fill  it 
up." 

Certainly  some  things  go  easily  if  the 
head  of  the  State  is  vour  fellow  criminal. 

"And  now,  Mr.  Martin,  it  grows  late.  I 
have  my  securities;  you  have  your  bonds. 
We  have  won  over  Jones.  All  goes  well. 
Aureataland  is  saved.  You  have  made 
vour  fortune,  for  there  lie  vour  05,000  dol- 
lars.  And,  in  fine,  I  am  much  obliged  to 
you.  I  will  not  trouble  you  to  attend  me 
on  my  return.    Good-night,  Mr.  Martin." 

He  went  out,  and  I  threw  myself  down  in 
my  office  chair,  and  sat  gazing  at  the  bonds 
he  had  left  me.  I  wondered  whether  he 
had  merely  made  a  tool  of  me;  whether  I 
could  trust  him;  whether  I  had  done  well 
to  sacrifice  my  honesty,  relying  on  his  prom- 
ises. And  yet  there  lay  my  reward;  and, 
as  purely  moral  considerations  did  not 
trouble  me,  I  soon  arose,  put  the  Govern- 
ment bonds  and  the  65,000  dollars  in  securi- 
ties in  the  safe,  locked  up  everything,  and 
went  home  to  my  lodgings.  As  I  went  in 
it  was  broad  daylight,  for  the  clock  had 


34  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

gone  five,  and  I  met  Father  JTacques  sally- 
ing forth.  He  had  already  breakfasted, 
and  was  on  his  way  to  administer  early  con- 
solation to  the  flower-women  in  the  Piazza. 
He  stopped  me  with  a  grieved  look,  and 
said: 

"Ah,  my  friend,  these  are  untimely 
hours." 

I  saw  I  was  laboring  under  an  unjust  sus- 
picion— a  most  revolting  thing. 

"I  have  only  just  come  from  the  bank,"  I 
said.  "I  had  to  dine  at  the  Golden  House 
and  afterward  returned  to  finish  up  a  bit  of 
work." 

"Ah !  that  is  well,"  he  cried.  "It  is  then 
the  industrious  and  not  the  idle  apprentice 
I  meet?"  referring  to  a  series  of  famous 
prints  with  which  my  room  was  decorated, 
a  gift  from  my  father  on  my  departure. 

I  nodded  and  passed  on,  saying  to  myself: 
"Deuced  industrious,  indeed.  Not  many 
men  have  done  such  a  night's  work  as  I 
have." 

And  that  was  how  my  fortunes  became 
bound  up  with  those  of  the  Aureataland 
National  Debt. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION. 

After  the  incidents  above  recorded, 
things  went  on  quietly  enough  for  some 
months.  I  had  a  serious  talli;  with  Jones, 
reproaching  him  gravely  for  his  outrageous 
demeanor.  He  capitulated  abjectl}^  on  be- 
ing shown  the  cable,  which  M^as  procured 
in  the  manner  kindlv  indicated  bv  the  Pres- 
ident.  The  latter  had  perhaps  been  in  too 
great  a  hurry  with  his  heavy  guns,  for  his 
hint  of  violence  had  rather  stirred  than 
allayed  Jones'  apprehensions.  If  there 
were  nothing  to  conceal,  why  should  his  Ex- 
cellencv  not  stick  at  murder  to  hide  it? 
■^  However,  I  explained  to  him  the  considera- 
tions of  high  policy,  dictating  inviolable  se- 
crecy, and  justifying  a  somewhat  arbitrary 
way  of  dealing  with  a  trusted  official;  and 
the  marked  graciousness  with  which  Jones 
was  received  when  he  met  the  President  at 
the  Ministry  of  Finance  on  current  business 
went  far  to  obliterate  his  unpleasant  recol- 

35 


36  A    MAN   OF   MARK. 

lections.  I  further  bound  him  to  my  for- 
tunes by  obtaining  for  him  a  rise  of  salary 
from  the  Directors,  "in  consequence  of  the 
favorable  report  of  his  conduct  received 
from  Mr.  Martin." 

Peaceful  as  matters  seemed,  I  was  not  al- 
together at  ease.  To  begin  with,  the  new 
loan  did  not  apparently  at  all  improve  the 
financial  position  of  Aureataland.  Desola- 
tion still  reigned  on  the  scene  of  the  harbor 
works;  there  was  the  usual  difficulty  in 
paying  salaries  and  meeting  current  ex- 
penditures. The  President  did  not  invite 
my  confidence  as  to  the  disposal  of  his 
funds;  indeed  before  long  I  was  alarmed  to 
see  a  growing  coldness  in  his  manner,  whicli 
I  considered  at  once  ungrateful  and  menac- 
ing; and  when  the  half-year  came  round  he 
firmly  refused  to  disburse  more  than  half 
the  amount  of  interest  due  on  the  second 
loan,  thus  forcing  me  to  make  an  inroad  on 
my  reserve  of  45,000  dollars.  He  gave  me 
many  good  reasons  for  this  course  of  con- 
duct, dwelling  chiefly  on  the  necessary  un- 
productiveness of  public  works  in  their 
early  stages,  and  confidently  promising  full 


OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION.       37 

payment  with  arrears  next  time.  Never- 
theless I  began  to  see  that  I  must  face  the 
possibility  of  a  continual  drain  on  resources 
that  I  had  fondly  hoped  would  be  available 
for  my  own  purposes  for  a  considerable 
time  at  least.  Thus  one  thing  and  another 
contributed  to  open  a  breach  between  his 
Excellency  and  myself,  and,  although  I 
never  ceased  to  feel  his  charm  as  a  private 
companion,  my  distrust  of  him  as  a  ruler, 
and,  I  may  add,  as  a  fellow-conspirator, 
steadily  deepened. 

Other  influences  were  at  this  time — for 
we  have  now  reached  the  beginning  of  '83— 
at  work  in  the  same  direction.  Kich  in  the 
possession  of  my  "bonus,"  I  had  plunged 
even  more  freely  than  before  into  the  gaie- 
ties of  Whittingham,  and  where  I  was  wel- 
come before,  I  was  now  a  doubly-honored 
guest.  I  had  also  taken  to  play  on  a  some- 
what high  scale,  and  it  was  my  reputation 
as  a  daring  gambler  that  procured  me  the 
honor  of  an  acquaintance  with  the  Signo- 
rina,  the  lady  to  whom  the  President  had 
referred  during  his  interview  with  me ;  and 
my  acquaintance  with  the  Signorina  was 
very  rich  in  results. 


38  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

This  lady  was,  after  the  President,  per- 
haps the  best  known  person  in  Aureataland 
— best  known,  that  is,  by  name  and  face  and 
fame;  for  her  antecedents  and  circnmstan- 
ces  were  wrapped  in  impenetrable  mystery. 
When  I  arrived  in  the  country  theSii^uorina 
Christina  Nugent  had  been  settled  there 
about  a  year.  She  had  appeared  originally 
as  a  member  of  an  Operatic  Company,  which 
had  paid  a  visit  to  our  "National  Theater" 
from  the  United  States.  The  Company 
passed  on  its  not  very  brilliant  way,  but  the 
Signorina  remained  behind.  It  was  said, 
she  had  taken  a  fancy  to  Whittingham,  and, 
being  independent  of  her  profession,  hatl  de- 
termined to  make  a  sojourn  there.  At  any 
rate,  there  she  was;  whether  she  took  a 
fancy  to  Whittingham,  or  whether  some- 
one in  Whittingham  took  a  fancy  to  her,  re- 
mained in  doubt.  She  established  herself  in 
a  pretty  villa  closely  adjoining  the  Golden 
House;  it  stood  opposite  the  presiden- 
tial grounds,  commanding  a  view  of  that 
stately  enclosure;  and  here  she  dwelt,  un- 
der the  care  of  a  lady  whom  she  called 
"Aunt,"  known  to  the  rest  of  the  w^orld  as 


OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION.      39 

Mrs.  Carrington.  The  title  "Signorina" 
was  purely  professional ;  for  all  I  know  the 
name  "Nugent"  was  equally  a  creature  of 
choice;  but,  anyhow,  the  lady  herself  never 
professed  to  be  anj^thing  but  English,  and 
openly  stated  that  she  retained  her  title 
simply  because  it  was  more  musical  than 
that  of  "Miss."  The  old  lady  and  the  young- 
one  lived  together  in  great  apparent  amity, 
and  certainlv  in  the  utmost  material  com- 
fort ;  for  they  probably  got  through  more 
money  than  any  one  in  the  town,  and  there 
always  seemed  to  be  plenty  more  where 
that  came  from.  Where  it  did  come  from 
was,  I  need  hardly  say,  a  subject  of  keen 
curiosity  in  social  circles;  and  when  I  state 
that  the  Signorina  w^as  now  about  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  and  of  remarkably  pre- 
possessing appearance,  it  will  be  allow^ed 
that  we  in  Whittingham  w^ere  no  worse 
than  other  peojjle  if  we  entertained  some 
uncharitable  suspicions.  The  Signorina, 
however,  did  not  make  the  work  of  detec- 
tion at  all  easv.  She  became  almost  at 
once  a  leading  figure  in  society;  her  "salon" 
was  the  meeting-place  of  all  parties  and 


40  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

most  sets;  she  received  many  gracious  at- 
tentions from  the  Golden  House,  but  none 
on  whicli  slander  could  definitely  settle. 
She  was  also  frequently  the  hostess  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Opposition,  and  of  no  one  more 
often  than  their  leader,  Colonel  George  Mc- 
Gregor, a  gentleman  of  Scotch  extraction, 
but  not  pronouncedly  national  characteris- 
tics, who  had  attained  a  high  position  in  the 
land  of  his  adojjtion;  for  not  only  did  he 
lead  the  Opposition  in  politics,  but  he  was 
also  second  in  command  of  the  Army.  He 
entered  the  Chamber  as  one  of  the  Presi- 
dent'te  nominees  (for  the  latter  had  reserved 
to  himself  power  to  nominate  five  mem- 
bers), but  at  the  time  of  which  I  write  the 
Colonel  had  deserted  his  former  chief,  and, 
secure  in  his  popularity  with  the  forces,  de- 
fied the  man  by  whose  help  he  had  risen. 
Naturally  the  President  disliked  him,  a  feel- 
ing I  cordially  shared.  But  his  Excellen- 
cy's disapproval  did  not  prevent  the  Sig- 
norina  receiving  McGregor  with  great  cor- 
diality, though  here  again  with  no  more 
emprcsscmcnt  than  his  position  seemed  to 
demand. 


OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION.       41 

I  have  as  much  curiosity  as  my  neigh- 
bors, and  I  was  proportionately  gratified 
when  the  doors  of  "Mon  Repos,"  as  the  Sig- 
norina  called  her  residence,  were  opened  to 
me.  M}'  curiosity-,  I  must  confess,  was  not 
unmixed  with  other  feelings;  for  I  was  a 
young  man  at  heart,  though  events  had 
thrown  sobering  responsibilities  upon  me, 
and  the  sight  of  the  Signorina  in  her  daily 
drives  was  enough  to  inspire  a  thrill  even 
in  the  soul  of  a  bank  manager.  She  was 
certainly  very  beautiful — a  tall,  fair  girl, 
with  straight  features  and  laughing  eyes. 
I  shall  not  attempt  more  description,  be- 
cause all  such  descriptions  sound  common- 
place, and  the  Signorina  was,  even  by  the 
admission  of  her  enemies,  at  least  very  far 
from  commonplace.  It  must  suffice  to  say 
that,  like  Father  O'Flynn,  she  "had  such  a 
way  with  her"  that  all  of  us  men  in  Aureat- 
aland,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor,  were 
at  her  feet,  or  ready  to  be  there  on  the  least 
encouragement.  She  was,  to  my  thinking, 
the  very  genius  of  health,  beauty  and  gai- 
ety; and  she  put  the  crowning  touch  to  her 
charms  by  very  openly  and  frankly  solicit- 


42  A   MAN    OF    MARK. 

inj?  and  valuing;  the  admiration  she  re- 
ceived. For,  after  all,  it's  only  exceptional 
men  who  are  attracted  by  difffcUe  beauty; 
to  most  of  us  a  gracious  reception  of  our 
timid  advances  is  the  most  subtle  tempta- 
tion of  the  Devil. 

It  may  be  supposed,  then,  that  I  thought 
my  money  very  well  invested  when  it  pro- 
cured me  an  invitation  to  "Mon  Repos," 
where  the  lady  of  the  house  was  in  the  habit 
of  allowing  a  genteel  amount  of  gambling 
among  her  male  friends.  She  never  played 
herself,  but  stood  and  looked  on  with  much 
interest.  On  occasion  she  would  tempt 
fortune  by  the  hand  of  a  chosen  deputy, 
and  nothing  could  be  prettier  or  more  ar- 
tistic than  her  behavior.  She  was  just 
eager  enough  for  a  girl  unused  to  the  excite- 
ment and.  fond  of  triumph,  just  indifferent 
enough  to  show  that  her  plaj'  was  merely  a 
pastime,  and  the  gain  of  the  money  or  its 
loss  a  matter  of  no  moment.  Ah,  Signo- 
rina,  you  were  a  great  artist! 

At  "Mon  Repos"  I  soon  became  an  habit- 
ual, and,  I  was  fain  to  think,  a  welcome 
guest     Mrs.  Carrington,  who  entertained 


OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION.       43 

a  deep  distrust  of  the  manners  and  excesses 
of  Aureataland,  was  good  enough  to  con- 
sider me  eminently  respectable,  while  the 
Signorina  was  graciousness  itself.  I  was 
even  admitted  to  the  select  circle  at  the  din- 
ner party  which,  as  a  rule,  preceded  her 
Wednesday  evening  reception,  and  I  was  a 
constant  figure  round  the  little  roulette 
board,  which,  of  all  forms  of  gaming,  was 
our  hostess'  favorite  delectation.  The 
Colonel  was,  not  to  my  pleasure,  an  equally 
invariable  guest,  and  the  President  himself 
would  often  honor  the  party  with  his  pres- 
ence, an  honor  we  found  rather  expensive, 
for  his  luck  at  all  games  of  skill  or  chance 
was  extraordinary. 

"I  have  always  trusted  Fortune,"  he 
would  say,  "and  to  me  she  is  not  fickle." 

"Who  would  be  fickle  if  your  Excellency 
were  pleased  to  trust  her?"  the  Signorina 
would  respond,  with  a  glance  of  almost  fond 
admiration. 

This  sort  of  thing  did  not  please  Mc- 
Gregor. He  made  no  concealment  of  the 
fact  that  he  claimed  the  foremost  place 
among  the  Signorina's  admirers,  utterly  de- 


44  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

rliuins:  to  mako  waA'  even  for  the  President. 
The  latter  took  his  boorishness  very  quietly ; 
and  I  could  not  avoid  the  conclusion  that 
the  President  held,  or  thought  he  held,  tho 
trumps.  I  was,  naturally,  intensely  jealous 
of  both  these  great  men,  and,  although  I 
had  no  cause  to  complain  of  my  treatment, 
I  could  not  stifle  some  resentment  at  the 
idea  that  I  vi'as,  after  all,  an  outsider  and 
not  allowed  a  part  in  the  real  drama  that 
was  going  on.  My  hapi^iness  was  further 
damped  by  the  fact  that  luck  ran  steadily 
against  me,  and  I  saw  my  bonus  dwindling 
very  rapidly.  I  suppose  I  may  as  well  be 
frank,  and  confess  that  my  bonus,  to  speak 
strictly,  vanished  within  six  months  after 
I  first  set  foot  in  "Mon  Repos,"  and  I  found 
it  necessary  to  make  that  temporary  use  of 
the  "interest-fund"  which  the  President  had 
indicated  as  open  to  me  under  the  terms  of 
our  bargain.  However,  my  uneasiness  on 
this  score  was  lightened  when  the  next  in- 
stallment of  interest  was  punctually  paid, 
and,  with  youthful  confidence,  I  made  little 
doubt  that  luck  would  turn  before  long. 
Thus  time  passed  on,  and  the  beginning 


OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION.      45 

of  1884  found  us  all  leading  an  apparently 
merry  and  untroubled  life.  In  public  af- 
fairs the  temper  was  very  different.  The 
scarcity  of  money  was  intense,  and  serious 
murmuring  had  arisen  when  the  President 
^'squandered"  his  ready  money  in  jjaying  in- 
terest, leaving  his  civil  servants  and  sol- 
diers unpaid.  This  was  the  topic  of  much 
discussion  in  the  Press  at  the  time  when  I 
went  up  one  March  evening  to  the  Signo- 
rina's.  I  had  been  detained  at  the  bank,  and 
found  the  plaj-  in  full  swing  when  I  came 
in.  The  Signorina  was  taking  no  part  in 
it,  but  sat  by  herself  on  a  low  lounge  by  the 
veranda  window.  I  went  up  to  her  and 
made  my  bow. 

"You  spare  us  but  little  of  your  time,  Mr. 
Martin,"  she  said. 

"Ah,  but  you  have  all  my  thoughts,"  I  re- 
plied, for  she  was  looking  charming. 

"I  don't  care  so  much  about  your 
thoughts,"  she  said.  Then,  after  a  pause, 
she  went  on:  "It's  very  hot  here;  come  into 
the  conservatory." 

It  almost  looked  as  though  she  had  been 
waiting  for  me,  and  I  followed  in  high  de- 


46  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

light  into  the  long,  narrow  glass  house  run- 
ning parallel  to  the  "salon."  High  green 
plants  hid  us  from  the  view  of  those  inside, 
and  we  only  heard  distinctly  his  Excellen- 
cy's voice,  saying  with  much  geniality  to 
the  Colonel,  "Well,  you  must  be  lucky  in 
love,  Colonel,"  from  which  I  concluded  that 
the  Colonel  was  not  in  the  vein  at  cards. 

The  Signorina  smiled  slightly-  as  she 
heard;  then  she  plucked  a  white  rose, 
turned  round,  and  stood  facing  me,  slightly 
flushed  as  though  with  some  inner  excite- 
ment. 

"I  am  afraid  those  two  gentlemen  do  not 
love  one  another,"  she  said. 

"Hardly,"  I  assented. 

"And  you,  do  you  love  them — or  either 
of  them?" 

"I  love  only  one  person  in  Aureataland," 
I  replied,  as  ardently  as  I  dared. 

The  Signorina  bit  her  rose,  glancing  up 
at  me  with  unfeigned  amusement  and  pleas- 
ure. I  think  I  have  mentioned  that  she 
didn't  object  to  honest  admiration, 

"Is  it  possible  j^ou  mean  me?"  she  said, 
making  me  a  little  curtsey.     "I  only  think 


OVERTURES    FROM   THE    OPPOSITION.      47 

SO  because  most  of  the  Whittinghani  ladies 
would  not  satisfy  your  fastidious  taste." 

"No  lady  in  the  world  could  satisfy  me 
except  one,"  I  answered,  thinking  she  took 
it  a  little  too  lightly. 

"Ah,  so  you  say,"  she  said.  "And  yet  I 
don't  suppose  you  would  do  anything  for 
me,  Mr.  Martin?" 

"It  would  be  my  greatest  happiness,"  I 
cried. 

She  said  nothing,  but  stood  there,  biting 
the  rose. 

"Give  it  me,"  I  said;  "it  shall  be  my  badge 
of  service." 

"You  will  serve  me,  then?"  said  she. 

"For  what  reward?" 

"Why,  the  rose!" 

"I  should  like  the  owner,  too,"  I  ventured 
to  remark. 

"The  rose  is  prettier  than  the  owner,"  she 
said ;  "and,  at  any  rate,  one  thing  at  a  time, 
Mr.  Martin!  Do  you  pay  your  servants  all 
their  wages  in  advance?" 

My  practice  was  so  much  the  contrary 
that  I  really  couldn't  deny  the  force  of  her 
reasoning.     She  held  out  the  rose.     I  seized 


48  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

it  and  pressed  it  close  to  my  lips,  thereby 
squashing-  it  considerably. 

"Dear  me,"  said  the  Signorina,  "I  wonder 
if  I  had  given  you  the  other  thing  whether 
you  v/ould  have  treated  it  so  roughly." 

"I'll  show  you  in  a  moment,"  said  I. 

"Thank  you,  no,  not  just  now,"  she  said, 
showing  no  alarm,  for  she  knew  she  was 
safe  with  me.     Then  she  said  abruptly: 

"Are  you  a  Constitutionalist  or  a  Liberal, 
Mr.  Martin?" 

I  must  explain  that,  in  the  usual  race  for 
the  former  title,  the  President's  party  had 
been  first  at  the  post,  and  the  Colonel's  gang 
(as  I  privately  termed  it)  had  to  put  up  with 
the  alternative  designation.  Neither  name 
bore  any  relation  to  facts. 

"Are  we  going  to  talk  politics?"  said  I,  re- 
proachfully. 

"Yes,  a  little;  you  see  we  got  to  an  im- 
passe on  the  other  topic.     Tell  me." 

"Which  are  you,  Signorina?"  I  asked. 

I  really  wanted  to  know;  so  did  a  great 
many  people. 

She  thought  for  a  moment,  and  then  said : 


OVERTURES    PROM    THE    OPPOSITION.      49 

"I  have  a  great  regard  for  the  Presi- 
dent. He  has  been  most  kind  to  me.  He 
has  shown  me  real  affection." 

"The  devil  he  has!"   I  muttered. 

"I  beg  3' our  pardon?"  said  she. 

"I  only  said  'Of  course  he  has.'  The 
President  has  the  usual  complement  of 
eyes." 

The  Signorina  smiled  again,  but  went  on 
as  if  I  hadn't  spoken. 

"On  the  other  hand,  I  cannot  disguise 
from  myself  that  some  of  his  measures  are 
not  wise." 

1  said  I  had  never  been  able  to  disguise  it 
from  myself. 

"The  Colonel,  of  course,  is  of  the  same 
opinion,"  she  continued.  "About  the  debt, 
for  instance.  I  believe  your  bank  is  inter- 
ested in  it?" 

This  was  no  secret,  so  I  said : 

"Oh,  yes,  to  a  considerable  extent." 

"And  you?"   she  asked,  softly. 

"Oh,  I  am  not  a  capitalist;  no  money  of 
mine  has  gone  into  the  debt" 

"No  money  of  yours,  no.  But  aren't  you 
interested  in  it?"  she  persisted. 


50  A   MAN    OF  MARK. 

This  was  rather  odd.  Could  she  know 
anything? 

She  drew  nearer  to  me, and, laying  a  hand 
lightly  on  my  arm,  said  reproachfully: 

"Do  you  love  people,  and  yet  not  trust 
them,  Mr.  Martin?" 

This  was  exactly  my  state  of  feeling  to- 
ward the  Signorina,  but  I  could  not  say  so. 
I  was  wondering  how  far  I  should  be  wise 
to  trust  her,  and  that  depended  largely  on 
how  far  his  Excellency  had  seen  fit  to  trust 
her  with  my  secrets.     I  said  finally: 

"Without  disclosing  other  people's  se- 
crets, Signorina,  I  may  admit  that  if  any- 
thing went  wrong  with  the  debt  my  em- 
ployers' opinion  of  my  discretion  would  be 
severely  shaken." 

"Of  your  discretion,"  she  said,  laughing. 
"Thank  you,  Mr.  Martin.  And  you  would 
wish  that  not  to  hapxjen?" 

"I  would  take  a  good  deal  of  pains  to  pre- 
vent its  happening." 

"Not  less  willingly  if  your  interest  and 
mine  coincided?" 

I  was  about  to  make  a  passionate  reply 
when  we  heard  the  President's  voice  say- 
ing: 


OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION.      51 

"And  where  is  our  hostess?  I  should 
like  to  thank  her  before  I  go." 

"Hush,"  whispered  the  Signorina.  "We 
must  go  back.  You  will  be  true  to  me,  Mr, 
Martin?" 

"Call  me  Jack,"  said  I,  idiotically. 

"Then  you  will  be  true,  O  Jack?"  she  said, 
stifling  a  laugh. 

"Till  death,"  said  I,  hoping  it  would  not 
be  necessary. 

She  gave  me  her  hand,  which  I  kissed 
with  fervor,  and  we  returned  to  the  "salon," 
to  find  all  the  plaj^ers  risen  from  the  table 
and  standing  about  in  groups,  waiting  to 
make  their  bows  till  the  President  had  gone 
through  that  ceremony.  I  was  curious  to 
hear  if  anj'thing  passed  between  him  and 
the  Signorina,  but  I  was  pounced  upon  by 
Donna  Antonia,  the  daughter  of  the  Minis- 
ter of  Finance,  who  happened  to  be  present, 
notwithstanding  the  late  hour,  as  a  guest  of 
the  Signorina's  for  the  night.  She  was  a 
handsome  young  lady,  a  Spanish  brunette 
of  the  approved  pattern,  but  with  manners 
formed  at  a  New  York  boarding-school, 
where  she  had  undergone  a  training  that 


52  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

had  tempered  without  destroying  her  na- 
tive gentility.  She  had  distinguished  me 
very  favorably,  and  I  was  vain  enough  to 
suppose  she  honored  me  by  some  jealousy 
of  my  penchant  for  the  Signorina. 

"I  hope  you  have  enjoyed  yourself  in  the 
conservatory,"  she  said  maliciously. 

"We  were  talking  business,  Donna  An- 
tonia,"  I  replied. 

"Ah,  business !  I  hear  of  nothing  but  bus- 
iness. There  is  papa  gone  down  to  the 
country  and  burying  himself  alive  to  work 
out  some  great  scheme  of  business!" 

I  pricked  up  my  ears. 

"Ah,  what  scheme  is  that?"  I  asked. 

"Oh!  I  don't  know.  Something  about 
that  horrid  debt.  But  I  was  told  not  to  say 
anything  about  it!" 

The  debt  was  becoming  a  bore.  The 
whole  air  was  full  of  it.  I  hastily  paid 
Donna  Antonia  a  few  incoherent  compli- 
ments, and  took  my  leave.  As  I  was  put- 
ting on  my  coat  Colonel  McGregor  joined 
me  and,  with  more  friendliness  than  he 
usually  showed  me,  accompanied  me  down 


OVERTURES    FROM    THE    OPPOSITION.       53 

the  avenue  toward  the  Piazza.  After 
some  indifferent  remarks  he  began: 

"Martin,  you  and  I  have  separate  inter- 
ests in  some  matters,  but  I  think  we  have 
the  same  in  others." 

I  knew  at  once  what  he  meant:  it  was 
that  debt  over  again! 

I  remained  silent,  and  he  continued: 

"About  the  debt,  for  instance.  You  are 
interested  in  the  debt?" 

"Somewhat,"  said  I.  "A  banker  gener- 
ally is  interested  in  a  debt." 

"I  thought  so,"  said  the  Colonel.  "A  time 
may  come  w^hen  we  can  act  together. 
Meanwhile,  keep  your  eye  on  the  debt. 
Good-night." 

We  parted  at  the  door  of  his  chambers  in 
the  Piazza,  and  I  went  on  to  my  lodgings. 

As  I  got  into  bed,  rather  puzzled  and  very 
uneasy,  I  damned  the  debt.  Then,  remem- 
bering that  the  debt  was,  as  it  seemed,  for 
some  reason  a  commcm  interest  to  the  Si- 
gnorina  and  myself,  I  apologized  to  it,  and 
fell  asleep. 


CHAPTER    V. 

I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION. 

The  flight  of  time  brought  no  alleviation 
to  the  troubles  of  Aureataland.  If  an  indi- 
vidual hard-up  is  a  pathetic  sight,  a  nation 
hard-up  is  an  alarming  spectacle;  and  Au- 
reataland was  very  hard-up.  I  suppose 
somebody  had  some  money.  But  the  Gov- 
ernment had  none;  in  consequence  the  Gov- 
ernment employes  had  none,  the  officials 
had  none,  the  President  had  none,  and 
finallv,  I  had  none.  The  bank  had  a  little 
— of  other  people's,  of  course — but  I  was 
quite  prepared  for  a  "run"  on  us  any  day, 
and  had  cabled  to  the  Directors  to  implore 
a  remittance  in  cash,  for  our  notes  were  at 
a  discount  humiliating  to  contemplate. 
Political  strife  ran  high.  I  dropped  into  the 
House  of  Assembly  one  afternoon  toward 
the  end  of  May,  and,  looking  down  from  the 
gallery,  saw  the  Colonel  in  the  full  tide  of 
wrathful  declamation.     He  was  demanding 

54 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  55 

of  the  miserable  Don  Antonio  when  the 
army  was  to  be  paid.  The  latter  sat  cower- 
ing under  his  scorn,  and  would,  I  verily  be- 
lieve, have  bolted  out  of  the  House  had  he 
not  been  nailed  to  his  seat  by  the  cold  eye  of 
the  President,  who  was  looking  on  from  his 
box.  The  Minister  on  rising  had  nothing 
to  urge  but  vague  promises  of  speedy  pay- 
ment; but  he  utterly  lacked  the  confident 
effrontery  of  his  chief,  and  nobody  was  de- 
ceived by  his  weak  protestations.  I  left 
the  House  in  a  considerable  uproar,  and 
strolled  on  to  the  house  of  a  friend  of  mine, 
one  Madame  Devarges,  the  widow  of  a 
French  gentleman  who  had  found  his  way 
to  Whittingham  from  New  Caledonia.  Po- 
liteness demanded  the  assumption  that  he 
had  found  his  way  to  New  Caledonia  owing 
to  political  troubles,  but  the  usual  cloud 
hung  over  the  precise  date  and  circum- 
stances of  his  patriotic  sacrifice.  Madame 
sometimes  considered  it  necessary  to  bore 
herself  and  others  with  denunciations  of 
the  various  tyrants  or  would-be  tyrants  of 
France;  but,  apart  from  this  pious  offering 
on  the  shrine  of  her  husband's  reputation, 


66  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

she  was  a  bright  and  pleasant  little  woman. 
I  found  assembled  round  her  tea-table  a 
merry  party,  including  Donna  Antonia,  un- 
mindful of  her  father's  agonies,  and  one 
Johnny  Carr,  who  deserves  mention  as  be- 
ing the  only  honest  man  in  Aureataland.  I 
speak,  of  course,  of  the  place  as  I  found  it. 
He  was  a  young  Englishman,  what  they  call 
a  "cadet,"  of  a  good  family,  shipped  off  with 
a  couple  of  thousand  pounds  to  make  his  for- 
tune. Land  was  cheap  among  us,  and 
Johnny  had  bought  an  estate  and  settled 
down  as  a  landowner.  Recently  he  had 
blossomed  forth  as  a  keen  Constitutionalist 
and  a  devoted  admirer  of  the  President's, 
and  held  a  seat  in  the  Assembly  in  that  in- 
terest. Johnny  was  not  a  clever  man  nor 
a  wise  one,  but  he  was  merry,  and,  as  I  have 
thought  it  necessary  to  mention,  honest. 

"Hullo,  Johnny!  Why  not  at  the  House?" 
said  I  to  him.  "Youll  want  ever}^  vote  to- 
night. Be  off  and  help  the  Ministry,  and 
take  Donna  Antonia  with  you.  They're  eat- 
ing up  the  Minister  of  Finance." 

"All  right!    I'm  going  as  soon  as  I've  had 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  57 

another  muffin,"  said  Johnny.  "But  what's 
the  row  about?" 

"Well,  they  want  their  money,"  I  replied; 
"and  Don  Antonio  won't  giye  it  them. 
Hence  bad  feeling." 

"Tell  you  what  it  is,"  said  Johnny;  "he 
hasn't  got  a—" 

Here  Donna  Antonia  struck  in,  rather 
suddenly,  I  thought. 

"Do  stop  the  gentlemen  talking  politics, 
Madame  Devarges.  They'll  spoil  our  tea- 
party." 

"Your  word  is  law,"  I  said ;  "but  I  should 
like  to  know  what  Don  Antonio  hasn't  got." 

"Now  do  be  quiet,"  she  rejoined ;  "isn't  it 
'j[uite  enough  that  he  has  got — a  charming 
daughter?" 

"And  a  most  valuable  one,"  I  replied  with 
a  bow,  for  I  saw  that  for  some  reason  or 
other  Donna  Antonia  did  not  mean  to  let  me 
pump  Johnny  Carr,  and  I  wanted  to  pump 
him. 

"Don't  say  another  word,  Mr.  Carr,"  she 
said  with  a  laugh.  "You  know  you  don't 
know  anything,  do  you?" 

"Good  Lord,  no!"  said  Johnny. 


58  A   MAN    OF    MARK. 

Meanwhile  Madame  Devarges  was  giving 
me  a  cup  of  tea.  As  she  handed  it  to  me, 
she  said  in  a  low  voice: 

"If  I  were  his  friend  I  should  take  care 
Johnny  didn't  know  anything,  Mr.  Martin." 

"If  I  were  his  friend  I  should  take  care 
he  told  me  what  he  knew,  Madame  De- 
varges,"  I  replied. 

"Perhaps  that's  what  the  Colonel  thinks," 
she  said.  "Johnny  has  just  been  telling  us 
how  very  attentive  he  has  become.  And 
the  Signorina  too,  I  hear." 

"You  don't  mean  that?"  I  exclaimed. 
"But  after  all,  pure  kindness,  no  doubt!" 

"You  have  received  many  attentions  from 
those  quarters,"  she  said.  "No  doubt  you 
are  a  good  judge  of  the  motives." 

"Don't,  now  don't  be  disagreeable,"  said 
I.    "I  came  here  for  peace." 

"Poor  young  man !  Have  you  lost  all  your 
money?  Is  it  possible  that  you,  like  Don 
Antonio,  haven't  got  a — ?" 

"What  is  going  to  happen?"  I  asked,  for 
Madame  Devarges  often  had  information. 

"I  don't  know,"  she  said.  "But  if  I  owned 
National  Bonds,  I  should  sell." 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  59 

"Pardon  me,  madame;  you  would  offer  to 
sell." 

She  laughed,  saying: 

"Ah,  I  see  my  advice  comes  too  late!" 

I  did  not  see  any  need  to  enlighten  her 
farther.  So  I  passed  on  to  Donna  Antonia, 
who  had  sat  somewhat  sulkily  since  her 
outburst.     I  sat  down  by  her  side  and  said : 

"Surely  I  haven't  offended  you?" 

"You  know  you  w^ouldn't  care  if  you  had," 
she  said,  with  a  reproachful  but  not  unkind 
glance.    "Now,  if  it  were  the  Signorina — " 

I  never  object  to  bowing  down  in  the 
temple  of  Rimmon,  so  I  said: 

"Hang  the  Signorina!" 

"If  I  thought  you  meant  that,"  said  Donna 
Antonia,  "I  might  be  able  to  help  you." 

"Do  I  want  help?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  said  she. 

"Then  suppose  I  do  mean  it?" 

Donna  Antonia  refused  to  be  frivolous. 
With  a  look  of  genuine  distress  she  said: 

"You  will  not  let  your  real  friends  save 
you,  Mr.  Martin.  You  know  you  want  help. 
Why  don't  you  consider  the  state  of  your 
affairs?" 


60  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

"In  that,  at  least,  my  friends  in  Whitt- 
ingham  are  very  ready  to  help  me,"  I  an- 
swered, with  some  annoyance. 

"If  you  take  it  in  that  way,"  she  replied 
sadly,  "I  can  do  nothing." 

I  was  rather  touched.  Clearly  she 
wished  to  be  of  some  use  to  me,  and  for 
a  moment  I  thought  I  miglit  do  better  to 
tear  myself  free  from  my  chains,  and  turn 
to  the  refuge  opened  to  me.  But  I  could 
not  do  this;  and,  thinking  it  would  be  rather 
mean  to  take  advantage  of  her  interest  in 
me  only  to  use  it  for  my  own  purposes,  I 
yielded  to  conscience  and  said: 

"Donna  Antonia,  I  will  be  straightfor- 
ward w^ith  you.  You  can  only  help  me  if 
I  accept  your  guidance?  I  can't  do  that.  I 
am  too  deep  in." 

"Yes,  you  are  deep  in,  and  eager  to  be 
deeper,"  she  said.  "Well,  so  be  it.  If  that 
is  so  I  cannot  help  you." 

"Thank  you  for  your  kind  attempt,"  said 
I.  "I  shall  very  likely  be  sorry  some  day 
that  I  repulse  it.  I  shall  always  be  glad  to 
remember  that  you  made  it." 

She  looked  at  me  a  moment  and  said: 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  61 

"We  have  ruined  you  among  us." 

"Mind,  body,  and  estate?" 

She  made  no  reply,  and  I  saw  my  return 
to  flippancy  wounded  her.  So  I  rose  and 
took  my  leave.    Johnny  Carr  went  with  me. 

"Things  look  queer,  eh,  old  man?"  said 
he.  "But  the  President  will  pull  through 
in  spite  of  the  Colonel  and  his  Signorina." 

"Johnny,"  said  I,  "you  hurt  my  feelings; 
but,  still  I  will  give  you  a  piece  of  advice." 

"Drive  on,"  said  Johnny. 

"Marry  Donna  Autonia,"  said  I.  "She's 
a  good  girl  and  a  clever  girl,  and  won't  let 
you  get  drunk  or  robbed." 

"By  Jove,  that's  not  a  bad  idea,"  said  he. 
*'Why  don't  you  do  it  j^ourself  ?" 

"Because  I'm  like  you,  Johnny — an  ass," 
I  replied,  and  left  him  wondering  why,  if  he 
was  an  ass  and  I  was  an  ass,  one  ass  should 
marry  Donna  Antonia,  and  not  both  or 
neither. 

As  I  went  along  I  bought  the  "Gazette," 
the  Government  organ,  and  read  therein : — 

"At  a  Cabinet  Council  this  afternoon  pre- 
sided over  by  his  Excellency,  we  understand 


62  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

that  the  an\angeinonts  connected  with  the 
National  Debt  formed  the  subject  of  dis- 
cussion. The  resolutions  arrived  at  are  at 
present  strictly  confidential,  but  we  have 
the  best  authority  for  stating  that  the  meas- 
ures to  be  adopted  will  have  the  effect  of 
materially  alleviating  the  present  tension, 
and  will  afford  unmixed  satisfaction  to  the 
immense  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Aure- 
ataland.  The  President  will  once  again  be 
hailed  as  the  Saviour  of  his  countrv." 

"I  wonder  if  the  immense  majority  will 
include  me,"  said  I.  "I  think  I  will  go  and 
see  his  Excellency." 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning  I  took  my 
way  to  the  Golden  House,  where  I  learnt 
that  the  President  was  at  the  Ministry  of 
Finance.  Arriving  there,  I  sent  in  my  card, 
writing  thereon  a  humble  request  for  a  pri- 
vate interview.  I  was  ushered  into  Don 
Antonio's  room,  where  I  found  the  Minister 
himself,  the  President,  and  Johnny  Carr. 
As  I  entered  and  the  servant,  on  a  sign  from 
his  Excellency,  placed  a  chair  for  me,  the 
latter  said  rather  stiffly: 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  63 

"As  I  presume  this  is  a  business  visit,  Mr. 
Martin,  it  is  more  regular  tliat  I  should  re- 
ceive you  in  the  presence  of  one  of  my  con- 
stitutional advisers.  Mr.  Carr  is  acting  as 
my  secretary,  and  you  can  speak  freely  be- 
fore him." 

'  I  was  annoyed  at  failing  in  my  attempt 
to  see  the  President  alone,  but  not  wishing 
to  show  it,  I  merely  bowed  and  said: 

"I  venture  to  intrude  on  your  Excellency, 
in  consequence  of  a  letter  from  my  Di- 
rectors. Thev  inform  me  that,  to  use  their 
words,  'disquieting  rumors'  are  afloat  on 
the  Exchanges  in  regard  to  the  Aureata- 
land  loan,  and  they  direct  me  to  sub- 
mit to  your  Excellency  the  expediency 
of  giving  some  public  notification  relative 
to  the  payment  of  the  interest  falling  due 
next  month.  It  appears  from  their  com- 
munication that  it  is  apprehended  that 
some  difficulty  may  occur  in  the  matter." 

"Would  not  this  application,  if  necessary 
at  all,  have  been  more  properly  made  to 
the  Ministry  of  Finance  in  the  first  in- 
stance?" said  the  President.  "These  de- 
tails hardly  fall  within  my  province." 

5 


64  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

"I  can  ouly  follow  my  instructions,  your 
Excellency,"  I  replied. 

"Have  you  any  objection,  Mr.  Martin," 
said  the  President,  "to  allowing  myself  and 
my  advisers  to  see  this  letter?" 

"I  am  empowered  to  submit  it  only  to 
your  Excellency's  own  eye." 

"Oh,  only  to  my  eye,"  said  he,  with  an 
amused  expression.  "That  was  why  the 
interview  was  to  be  private?" 

"Exactly,  sir,"  I  replied.  "I  intend  no 
disrespect  to  the  Minister  of  Finance  or 
to  your  secretary,  sir,  but  I  am  bound  by 
my  orders." 

"You  are  an  exemplary  servant,  Mr. 
Martin,  But  I  don't  think  I  need  trouble 
you  about  it  further.      Is  it  a  cable?" 

He  smiled  so  wickedly  at  this  question 
that  I  saw^  he  had  penetrated  my  little 
fiction.     However,  I  only  said: 

"A  letter,  sir." 

"Well,  gentlemen,"  said  he  to  the  others, 
"I  think  we  may  reassure  Mr.  Martin. 
Tell  your  Directors  this,  Mr.  Martin,  The 
Government  does  not  see  any  need  of  a 
public  notification,  and  none  will  be  made. 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  65 

I  think  we  agree,  gentlemen,  that  to  ac- 
knowledge the  necessity  of  any  such  action 
would  be  highly  derogatory.  But  assure 
them  that  the  President  has  stated  to  you, 
Mr.  Martin,  personally,  with  the  concur- 
rence of  his  advisers,  that  he  anticipates 
no  difficulties  in  your  being  in  a  position 
to  remit  the  full  amount  of  interest  to  them 
on  the  proper  day/' 

"I  may  assure  them,  sir,  that  the  interest 
will  be  punctually  paid?" 

"Surely  I  expressed  myself  in  a  manner 
YOU  could  understand,"  said  he,  with  the 
slightest  emphasis  on  the  "you."  "Aure- 
ataland  will  meet  her  obligations.  You 
will  receive  all  your  due,  Mr.  Martin.  That 
is  so,  gentlemen?" 

Don  Antonio  acquiesced  at  once.  Johnny 
Carr,  I  noticed,  said  nothing  and  fidgeted 
rather  uneasily  in  his  chair.  I  knew  what 
the  President  meant.  He  meant,  "If  we 
don't  pay,  pay  it  out  of  your  reserve  fund." 
Alas,  the  reserve  fund  was  considerably  di- 
minished; I  had  enough,  and  just  enough, 
left  to  pay  the  next  installment  if  I  paid 
none  of  my  own  debts.     I  felt  very  vicious 


66  A    MAN    OF   MARK 

as  I  saw  his  Excellency  taking  keen  pleas- 
ure in  the  consciousness  of  mj^  diflficnlties 
(for  he  had  a  shrewd  notion  of  how  the  land 
lay),  bnt  of  course  I  could  say  nothing.  So 
I  rose  and  boAved  myself  out,  feeling  I 
had  gained  nothing,  except  a  very  clear 
conviction  that  I  should  not  see  the  color 
of  the  President's  money  on  the  next  in- 
erest  day.  True,  I  could  just  pay  myself. 
But  what  would  happen  next  time?  And 
if  he  wouldn't  pay,  and  I  couldn't  pay,  the 
game  would  be  up.  As  to  the  original  loan, 
it  is  true  I  had  no  responsibility;  but  then, 
if  no  interest  were  paid,  the  fact  that  I  had 
applied  the  second  loan,  my  loan,  in  a  man- 
ner different  from  that  which  my  instruc- 
tions authorized  and  my  own  reports  repre- 
sented, would  be  inevitably  discovered. 
And  my  acceptance  of  the  bonus,  my  deal- 
ings with  the  reserve  fund,  my  furnishing 
inaccurate  returns  of  investments,  all  this 
would,  I  knew,  look  rather  queer  to  people 
who  didn't  know  the  circumstances. 

When  I  went  back  to  the  bank,  revolv- 
ing these  things  in  my  mind,  I  found  Jones 
employed  in  arranging  the  correspondence. 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  67 

It  was  part  of  his  duty  to  see  to  the  preser- 
vation and  filing  of  all  letters  arriving  from 
Europe,  and,  strange  to  say,  he  delighted 
in  the  task.  It  was  part  of  my  duty  to  see 
he  did  his;  so  I  sat  down  and  began  to  turn 
over  the  pile  of  letters  and  messages  which 
he  had  put  on  my  desk;  they  dated  back 
two  years;  this  surprised  me,  and  I  said: 

"Kather  behindhand,  aren't  you,  Jones?" 

"Yes,  sir,  rather.  Fact  is,  I've  done  'em 
before,  but  as  you've  never  initialed  'em, 
I  thought  I  ought  to  bring  'em  to  your  no- 
tice." 

"Quite  right — very  neglectful  of  me.  I 
suppose  they're  all  right?" 

"Yes,  sir,  all  right." 

"Then  I  won't  trouble  to  go  through 
them." 

"They're  all  there,  sir,  except,  of  course, 
the  cable  about  the  second  loan,  sir." 

"Except  what?"  I  said. 

"The  cable  about  the  second  loan,"  he  re- 
peated. 

I  was  glad  to  be  reminded  of  this,  for  of 
course  I  wished  to  remove  that  document 
before  the  bundle    finally    took    its    place 


68  A   MAN   OF   MARK. 

among  the  archives.  Indeed,  I  thought  I 
had  done  so.  But  why  had  Jones  removed 
it?  Surely  Jones  was  not  as  skeptical  as 
that? 

"Ah,  and  where  have  you  put  that?" 

"Why,  sir,  his  Excellency  took  that." 

"What?"  I  cried. 

"Yes,  sir.  Didn't  I  mention  it?  Why, 
the  day  after  you  and  the  President  were 
here  that  night,  his  Excellency  came  down 
in  the  afternoon,  when  you'd  gone  out  to 
the  Piazza,  and  said  he  wanted  it.  He  said, 
sir,  that  you'd  said  it  was  to  go  to  the  Min- 
istry of  Finance.  He  was  very  affable,  sir, 
and  told  me  that  it  was  necessary  the  origi- 
nal should  be  submitted  to  the  Minister  for 
his  inspection;  and  as  he  was  passing  by 
(he'd  come  in  to  cash  a  check  on  his  private 
account)  he'd  take  it  up  himself.  Hasn't 
he  given  it  back  to  you,  sir?  He  said  he 
would." 

I  had  just  strength  enough  to  gasp  out: 

"Slipped  his  memory,  no  doubt.  All 
right,  Jones." 

"May  I  go  now,  sir?"  said  Jones.  "Mrs. 
Jones  wanted  me  to  go  with  her  to— r" 


I  APPRECIATE  THE  SITUATION.  69 

"Yes,  go,"  said  I,  and  as  he  went  out,  I 
added  a  destination  different  no  doubt  from 
what  the  good  lady  had  proposed.  For  I 
saw  it  all  now.  That  old  villain  (pardon 
my  warmth)  had  stolen  my  forged  cable, 
and,  if  need  arose,  meant  to  produce  it  as 
his  own  justification.  I  had  been  done, 
done  brown — and  Jones'  idiocy  had  made 
the  task  easy.  I  had  no  evidence  but  my 
word  that  the  President  knew  the  message 
was  fabricated.  Up  till  now  I  had  thought 
that  if  I  stood  convicted  I  should  have  the 
honor  of  his  Excellency's  support  in  the 
dock.  But  now! — ^why  noAV,  I  might  prove 
myself  a  thief,  but  I  couldn't  prove  him 
one.  I  had  convinced  Jones,  not  for  my 
good,  but  for  his.  I  had  forged  papers,  not 
for  my  good,  but  for  his.  True,  I  had  spent 
the  money  myself,  but — 

"Damn  it  all,"  I  cried  in  the  bitterness 
of  my  spirit,  "he  won  about  three-quarters 
of  that!" 

And  his  Excellency's  words  came  back 
to  my  memory,  "I  make  the  most  of  my  op- 
portunities." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MOURONS  POUR  LA  PATRIE! 

The  next  week  was  a  busy  one  for  me.  1 
spent  it  in  scraping  together  every  bit  of 
cash  I  could  lay  my  hands  on.  If  I  could 
get  together  enough  to  pay  the  interest  on 
the  300,000  dollars  supposed  to  be  invested 
in  approved  securities — really  disposed  of 
in  a  manner  only  known  to  his  Excellency 
— I  should  have  six  months  to  look  about 
me.  Now  remaining  out  of  my  "bonus" 
was  nil,  out  of  my  "reserve  fund"  10,000  dol- 
lars. This  was  enough.  But,  alas,  how 
happened  it  that  this  sum  was  in  my  hands? 
Because  I  had  borrowed  5,000  from  the 
bank!  If  they  wouldn't  let  their  own  man- 
ager overdraw,  whom  would  they?  So  I 
overdrew.  But  if  this  money  wasn't  back 
before  the  monthly  balancing,  Jones 
would  know!  And  I  dared  not  rely  on  be- 
ing able  to  stop  his  mouth  again.  When 
I  said  Johnny  Carr  was  the  only  honest 
man  in  Aureataland  I  forgot  Jones.     To  my 

70 


MOURONS   POUR   LA   PATRIE!  71 

grief  and  anuoyance  Jones  also  was  honest, 
and  Jones  would  consider  it  his  duty  to 
let  the  Directors  know  of  my  overdraft.  If 
once  they  knew,  I  was  lost,  for  an  overdraft 
effected  privately  from  the  safe  by  the  man- 
ager is,  I  do  not  deny  it,  decidedly  irregular. 
Unless  I  could  add  5,000  dollars  to  mv 
10,000  before  the  end  of  the  month  I  should 
have  to  bolt! 

This  melancholy  conclusion  was  rein- 
forced and  rendered  demonstrable  by  a  let- 
ter which  arrived,  to  crown  my  woes,  from 
my  respected  father,  informing  me  that  he 
had  unhappil}^  become  indebted  to  our 
Chairman  in  the  sum  of  £2,000,  the  result 
of  a  deal  between  them,  that  he  had  seen 
the  Chairman,  that  the  Chairman  was 
urgent  for  payment,  that  he  used  most  vio- 
lent language  against  our  family  in  gen- 
eral, ending  by  declaring  his  intention  of 
stopping  my  salar}^  to  pay  the  parental 
debt  "If  he  doesn't  like  it  he  may  go,  and 
small  loss."  This  was  a  most  unjustifiable 
proceeding,  but  I  was  hardly  in  a  position 
to  take  up  a  high  moral  attitude  toward 
the  Chairman,  and  in  the  result  I  saw  my- 


72  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

self  confronted  with  the  certainty  of  beg- 
gary and  the  probability  of  jail.  But  for 
this  untoward  reverse  of  fortune  I  might 
have  taken  courage  and  made  a  clean 
breast  of  my  misdoings,  relying  on  the 
Chairman's  obligations  to  my  father  to  pull 
me  through.  But  now,  where  was  I?  I  was 
as  Donna  Antonia  put  it,  very  deep  in  in- 
deed. So  overwhelmed  was  I  by  my  posi- 
tion, and  so  occupied  with  my  frantic  efforts 
to  improve  it,  that  I  did  not  even  find  time 
to  go  and  see  the  Signorina,  much  as  I 
needed  comfort;  and,  as  the  days  went  on, 
I  fell  into  such  despair  that  I  went  nowiiere, 
but  sat  dismally  in  my  own  rooms,  looking 
at  my  portmanteau,  and  wondering  how 
soon  I  must  pack  and  fly,  if  not  for  life,  at 
least  for  liberty. 

At  last  the  crash  came.  I  was  sitting  in 
my  office  one  morning,  engaged  in  the 
difficult  task  of  trying  to  make  ten  into 
fifteen,  Avhen  I  heard  the  clatter  of  hoofs. 

A  moment  later  the  door  was  opened,  and 
Jones  ushered  in  Colonel  McGregor.  I 
nodded  to  the  Colonel,  who  came  in  with 
his  usual  leisurely  step,  sat  himself  down. 


MOURONS   POUR   LA   PATRIE!  73 

and  took  off  his  gloves.     I  roused  myself  to 
sav: 

ft/ 

"What  can  I  do  for  you,  Colonel?''' 

He  waited  till  the  door  closed  behind 
Jones  and  then  said,  "iVe  got  to  the  bottom 
of  it  at  last,  Martin." 

This  was  true  of  myself  also,  but  th'.^ 
Colonel  meant  it  in  a  different  sense. 

"Bottom  of  what?"  I  asked,  rather  test- 
ily. 

"That  old  scamp's  villainy,"  said  he  jerk- 
ing his  thumb  toward  the  Piazza  and  the 
statue  of  the  Liberator.  "He's  very  'cute, 
but  he's  made  a  mistake  at  last." 

"Do  come  to  the  point.  Colonel.  What's 
it  all  about?" 

"Would  you  be  surprised  to  hear,"  said 
the  Colonel,  adopting  a  famous  mode  of 
speech,  "that  the  interest  on  the  debt  would 
not  be  paid  on  the  31st?" 

"No,  I  shouldn't,"  said  I,  resignedly. 

"Would  you  be  surprised  to  hear  that  no 
more  interest  would  ever  be  paid?" 

"The  devil !"  I  cried,  leaping  up.  "What 
do  you  mean,  man?" 

"The  President,"  said  he,  calmly,  "will. 


74  A   MAN    OF    MARK. 

on  the  31st  instant,  repudiate  the  National 
D('bt!" 

1  had  nothing  left  to  say.  I  fell  back  in 
my  chair,  and  gazed  at  the  Colonel,  who  was 
now  employed  in  lighting  a  cigarette.  At 
the  same  moment  a  sound  of  rapid  wheels 
struck  on  my  ears.  Then  I  heard  the  sweet 
clear  voice  I  knew  so  well  saying: 

"I'll  just  disturb  him  for  a  moment,  Mr. 
Jones.  I  want  him  to  tear  himself  from 
work  for  a  day,  and  come  for  a  ride." 

She  opened  my  door,  and  came  swiftly 
in.  On  seeing  the  Colonel  she  took  in  the 
position,  and  said  to  that  gentleman: 

"Have  you  told  him?" 

"I  have  just  done  so,  Signorina,"  he  re- 
plied. 

I  had  not  energy  enough  to  greet  her;  so 
she  also  sat  down  uninvited,  and  took  off 
her  gloves — not  lazily,  like  the  Colonel,  but 
with  an  air  as  though  she  would,  if  a  man, 
take  off  her  coat,  to  meet  the  crisis  more 
energetically. 

At  last  I  said,  with  conviction: 

"He's  a  wonderful  man!  How  did  you 
find  it  out.  Colonel?" 


MOURONS   POUR  LA  PATRIE!  75 

"Had  Jolinuy  Carr  to  dine  and  made  him 
drunk,"  said  that  worthy. 

"You  don't  mean  he  trusted  Johnny?" 

"Odd,  isn't  it?"  said  the  Colonel.  "With 
his  experience,  too.  He  might  have  known 
Johnny  was  an  ass.  I  suppose  there  was 
no  one  else." 

"He  knew,"  said  the  Signorina,  "anyone 
else  in  the  place  would  betray  him;  he 
knew  Johnny  wouldn't  if  he  could  help  it. 
He  underrated  your  powers.  Colonel." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I  can't  help  it,  can  I?  My 
Directors  will  lose.  The  Bondholders  will 
lose.    But  how  does  it  hurt  me?" 

The  Colonel  and  the  Signorina  both 
smiled  gently. 

"You  do  it  very  well,  Martin,"  said  the 
former,  "but  it  will  save  time  if  I  state  that 
both  Signorina  Nugent  and  myself  are  pos- 
sessed of  the  details  regarding  the — "  (the 
Colonel  paused,  and  stroked  his  mous- 
tache). 

"The  second  loan,"  said  the  Signorina. 

I  was  less  surprised  at  this,  recollecting 
certain  conversations. 

"Ah,  and  how  did  you  find  that  out?"  I 
asked. 


76  A    MAN    OP    MARK. 

"She  told  mo,"  said  the  Colonel,  indicat- 
injij  his  fair  neighbor. 

"And  mi\y  I  ask  how  you  found  it  out, 
Signorina?" 

"The  President  told  me,"  said  that  lady. 

"Did  yon  make  him  drunk?" 

"No,  not  drunk,"  was  her  reply,  in  a  very 
demure  voice,  and  with  downcast  eyes. 

We  could  guess  how  it  had  been  done, 
but  neither  of  us  cared  to  pursue  the  sub- 
ject.   After  a  pause,  I  said : 

"Well,  as  you  both  know  all  about  it,  it's 
no  good  keeping  up  pretenses.  It's  very 
kind  of  you  to  come  and  warn  me." 

"You  dear  good  Mr.  Martin,"  said  the 
Signorina,  "our  motives  are  not  purely 
those  of  friendship." 

"Why,  how  does  it  matter  to  you?" 

"Simply  this,"  said  she,  "the  bank  and  its 
excellent  manager  own  most  of  the  debt. 
The  Colonel  and  I  own  the  rest.  If  it  is 
repudiated,  the  bank  loses;  yes,  but  the 
manager  and  the  Colonel  and  the  Signorina 
Nugent  are  lost!" 

"I  didn't  know  this,"  I  said,  rather  be- 
wildered. 


MOURONS   POUR  LA   PATRIE!  77 

"Yes,"  said  the  Colonel,  "when  the  first 
loan  was  raised  I  lent  him  100,000  dollars. 
We  were  thick  then,  and  I  did  it  in  return 
for  my  rank  and  my  seat  in  the  Chamber. 
Since  then  I've  bought  up  some  more 
shares." 

"You  got  them  cheap,  I  suppose?"  said  I. 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  "I  averaged  them  at 
about  75  cents  the  five-dollar  share." 

"And  what  do  you  hold  now,  nominal?" 

"Three  hundred  thousand  dollars,"  said 
he,  shortly. 

"I  understand  your  interest  in  the  mat- 
ter.   But  you,  Signorina?" 

The  Signorina  appeared  a  little  embar- 
rassed.    But  at  last  she  broke  out — 

"I  don't  care  if  I  do  tell  you.  When  I 
agreed  to  stay  here,  he"  (we  knew  whom 
she  meant)  "gave  me  100,000  dollars.  And 
I  had  50,000,  or  thereabouts,  of  my  own 
that  I  had—" 

"Saved  out  of  your  salary  as  a  prima 
donna,"  put  in  the  Colonel. 

"What  does  it  matter?"  said  she,  flush- 
ing; "I  had  it.  Well,  then,  what  did  he 
do?     He  persuaded  me  to  put  it  all — the 


78  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

whole  ir>0,000— into  his  liorrid  dobt.  Oh! 
wasn't  it  mean,  Mr.  Martin?" 

The  President  had  certainly  combined 
business  and  pleasure  in  this  matter. 

"DisjT^raceful!"  I  remarked. 

"And  if  that  goes,  I  am  penniless — penni- 
less. And  there's  poor  annt.  What  will 
she  do?" 

"Never  mind  your  annt,''  said  the  Colonel, 
rather  rudely.  "Well,"  he  went  on,  "you 
see  we're  in  the  same  boat  with  you,  Mar- 
tin." 

"Yes;  and  we  shall  soon  be  in  the  same 
deep  water,"  said  I. 

"Not  at  all,"  said  the  Colonel. 

"Not  at  all,"  echoed  the  Signorina. 

"Why,  what  on  earth  are  you  going  to 
do?" 

"Financial  probity  is  the  backbone  of  a 
country,"  said  the  Colonel.  "Are  we  to 
stand  by  and  see  Aureataland  enter  on  the 
shameful  path  of  repudiation?" 

"Never!"  cried  the  Signorina,  leaping  up 
with  sparkling  eyes.    "Never!" 

She  looked  enchanting.  But  business  is 
business;  and  I  said  again: 


MOURONS   POUR   LA  PATRIE!  79 

''What  are  you  going  to  do?" 

"We  are  going,  with  your  help,  Martin,  to 
prevent  this  national  disgrace.  We  are  go- 
ing— "  he  lowered  his  voice — uselessly,  for 
the  Signorina  struck  in,  in  a  high  merry 
tone,  waving  her  gloves  over  head  and 
dancing  a  little  pas  seril  on  the  floor  before 
me,  with  these  remarkable  words — 

"Hurrah  for  the  Revolution!  Hip!  hip! 
hurrah!" 

She  looked  like  a  Goddess  of  Freedom  in 
high  spirits  and  a  Paris  bonnet.  I  lost  my 
mental  balance.  Leaping  up,  I  grasped  her 
round  the  waist,  and  we  twirled  madly 
about  the  office,  the  Signorina  breaking 
forth  into  the  "Marseillaise.'" 

"For  God's  sake,  be  quiet!"  said  Mc- 
Gregor, in  a  hoarse  whisper,  making  a 
clutch  at  me  as  I  sped  past  him.  "If  they 
hear  you!   Stop,  I  tell  you,  Christina." 

The  Signorina  stopped. 

"Do  you  mean  me.  Colonel  McGregor?" 
she  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "and    that  fool    Martin, 

too." 

"Even  in  times  of  revolution,  Colonel," 
e 


80  A    MAN   OF    MARK. 

said  I,  "notbing  is  lost  by  politeness.  But 
ill  substance  you  are  right.  Let  us  be 
sober." 

We  sat  down  again,  panting,  the  Signo- 
rina  between  her  gasps  still  faintly  hum- 
luiiig  the  psalm  of  liberty. 

"Kindly  unfold  your  plan,  Colonel,"  I  re- 
sumed. "I  am  aware  that  out  here  you 
think  little  of  revolutions,  but  to  a  new- 
comer they  appear  to  be  matters  requiring 
some  management.  You  see  we  are  only 
three." 

"I  have  the  army  with  me,"  said  he 
grandlv. 

"In  the  outer  office?"  asked  I,  indulging 
in  a  sneer  at  the  dimensions  of  the  Aure- 
ataland  forces. 

"Look  here,  Martin,"  he  said,  scowling, 
"if  you're  coming  in  with  us,  keep  your 
jokes  to  yourself." 

"Don't  quarrel,  gentlemen,"  said  the  Sig- 
norina.  "It's  waste  of  time.  Tell  him  the 
plan.  Colonel,  while  I'm  getting  cool." 

I  saw  the  wisdom  of  this  advice,  so  I 
said : 

"Your  pardon.  Colonel.     But  won't  this 


MOURONS    POUR   LA   PATRIE!  Si 

repudiatiou  be  popular  with  the  army?  If 
he  lets  the  debt  slide,  he  can  pay  them." 

"Exactly,"  said  he.  "Hence  we  must  get 
at  them  before  that  aspect  of  the  case 
strikes  them.  They  are  literally  starving, 
and  for  ten  dollars  a  man  they  would  make 
Satan  himself  President.  Have  you  got 
any  money,  Martin?" 

"Yes,'^  said  I,  "a  little." 

"How  much?" 

"Ten  thousand,"  I  replied;  "I  was  keep- 
ing it  for  the  interest." 

"Ah,  you  won't  want  it  now." 

"Indeed  I  shall — for  the  second  loan  you 
know." 

"Look  here,  Martin;  give  me  that  ten 
thousand  for  the  troops.  Stand  in  with  us, 
and  the  day  I  become  President  I'll  give 
you  back  your  300,000.  Just  look  where 
you  stand  now.  I  don't  want  to  be  rude, 
but  isn't  it  a  case  of — ?" 

"Some  emergency?"  said  I,  thoughtfulh'. 
"Yes,  it  is.  But  where  do  you  suppose 
you're  going  to  get  300,000  dollars,  to  say 
nothing  of  your  own  shares?" 


82  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

He  drew  liis  cliair  closer  to  mine,  and, 
leanin<i-  forward,  said: 

"lie's  never  spent  the  money.  He's  got 
it  somewhere;  much  the  greater  part,  at 
least." 

"Did  Carr  tell  joii  that?" 

"He  didn't  know  for  certain;  but  he  told 
me  enough  to  make  it  almost  certain.  Be- 
sides," he  added,  glancing  at  the  Signorina, 
"we  have  other  reasons  for  suspecting  it. 
Give  me  the  ten  thousand.  You  shall  have 
your  loan  back,  and,  if  jon  like,  you  shall 
be  Minister  of  Finance.  We  practically 
know  the  money's  there,  don't  we,  Sig- 
norina?" 

She  nodded  assent. 

"If  we  fail?"  said  I. 

He  drew  a  neat  little  revolver  from  his 
pocket,  placed  it  for  a  moment  against  his 
ear,  and  repocketed  it. 

"Most  lucidly  explained,  Colonel,"  said  I. 
"Will  3  ou  give  me  half-an-hour  to  think  it 
over?" 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "You'll  excuse  me  if  I 
stay  in  the  outer  office?  Of  course  I  trust 
you,  Martin,  but  in  this  sort  of  thing — " 


MOURONS   POUR   LA  PATRIE!  83 

"All  right,  I  see,"  said  I.  "And  you,  Sig- 
norina?" 

"I'll  wait  too,"  she  said. 

They  both  rose  and  went  out,  and  I  heard 
them  in  conversation  with  Jones.  I  sat  still, 
thinking  hard.  But  scarcely  a  moment  had 
l^assed,  when  I  heard  the  door  behind  me 
open.  It  was  the  Signorina.  She  came  in, 
stood  behind  my  chair,  and,  leaning  over, 
put  her  arms  round  my  neck. 

I  looked  up,  and  saw  her  face  full  of  mis- 
chief. 

"What  about  the  rose,  Jack?"  she  asked. 

I  remembered.  Bewildered  with  delight, 
and  believing  I  had  won  her,  I  said: 

"Your  soldier  till  death,  Signorina." 

"Bother  death!"  said  she,  saucily.  "No- 
body's going  to  die.  We  shall  win,  and 
then—!" 

"And  then,"  said  I  eagerly,  "you'll  marry 
me,  sweet?" 

She  quietly  stooped  down  and  kissed  my 
lips.    Then,  stroking  my  hair,  she  said: 

"You're  a  nice  boy,  but  you're  not  a  good 
boy,  .Jack." 

"Christina,  you  won't  marry  him?" 


84  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

"Him?" 

"McGregor,"  said  I. 

"Jack,"  said  she,  whispering  now,  "I  hate 
him!" 

"So  do  I,"  I  answered  promptly.  "And 
if  it's  to  win  you,  I'll  upset  a  dozen  presi- 
dents." 

"Then  you'll  do  it  for  me?  I  like  to 
think  you'll  do  it  for  me,  and  not  for  the 
mone3^" 

As  the  Signorina  was  undoubtedly  "do- 
ing it"  for  her  money,  this  was  a  shade  un- 
reasonable. 

"I  don't  mind  the  money  coming  in,"  I 
began. 

"Mercenary  wretch !"  she  cried.  "I  didn't 
kiss  you,  did  I?'" 

"No,"  I  replied.  "You  said  you  would  in 
a  minute,  when  I  consented." 

"Very  neat,  Jack,"  she  said.  But  she 
went  and  opened  the  door  and  called  to 
McGregor,  "Mr.  Martin  sees  no  objection  to 
the  arrangement,  and  he  will  come  to  din- 
ner to-night,  as  you  suggest,  and  talk  over 
the  detail?!.  We're  all  going  to  make  our 
fortunes,  Mr.  Jones,"  she  went  on,  without 


MOURONS   POUR   LA   PATRIE!  85 

waiting  for  any  acceptance  of  her  implied 
invitation,  "and  when  we've  made  ours, 
we'll  think  about  you  and  Mrs.  Jones." 

I  heard  Jones  making  some  noise  inco- 
herently suggestive  of  gratification,  for  he 
was  as  bad  as  any  of  us  about  the  Signo- 
rina,  and  then  I  was  left  to  my  reflections. 
These  were  less  sombre  than  the  reader 
would,  perhaps,  anticipate.  Time,  I  was 
putting  my  head  into  a  noose;  and  if  the 
President's  hands  ever  found  their  way  to 
the  end  of  the  rope,  I  fancied  he  would  pull 
it  pretty  tight.  But,  again,  I  was  im- 
mensely in  love,  and  equally  in  debt;  and 
the  scheme  seemed  to  open  the  best  chance 
of  satisfying  my  love,  and  the  only  chance 
of  filling  my  pocket.  To  a  young  man,  life 
without  love  isn't  worth  much;  to  a  man 
of  any  age,  in  my  opinion,  life  without 
money  isn't  worth  much ;  it  becomes  worth 
still  less  when  he  is  held  to  account  for 
money  he  ought  to  have.  So  1  cheerfully 
entered  upon  my  biggest  gamble,  holding 
the  stake  of  life  well  risked.  My  pleasure 
in  the  affair  was  only  marred  by  the  en- 
forced   partnership    of    McGregor.      There 


86  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

was  no  help  for  this,  but  I  knew  he  wasn't 
much  fonder  of  me  than  I  of  him,  and  1 
found  myself  gently  meditating  on  the  fric- 
tion likely  to  arise  between  the  new  Presi- 
dent and  his  Minister  of  Finance,  in  case 
onr  plans  succeeded.  Still  the  Signorina 
hated  him,  and  by  all  signs  she  loved  me. 
So  I  lay  back  in  my  chair,  and  recalled  my 
charmer's  presence  by  whistling  the  hymn 
of  liberty  until  it  was  time  to  go  to  lunch, 
an  obseii-ance  not  to  be  omitted  even  by 
conspirators. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  MINE  IS  LAID. 

The  morning-  meeting  had  been  devoted 
to  principles  and  to  the  awakening  of  en- 
thusiasm; in  the  evening  the  conspirators 
condescended  upon  details,  and  we  held  a 
prolonged  and  anxious  conference  at  the 
Signorina's.  Mrs.  Carrington  was  com- 
manded to  have  a  headache  after  dinner, 
and  retired  with  it  to  bed ;  and  from  ten  till 
one  we  sat  and  conspired.  The  result  of  our 
deliberations  was  a  very  pretty  plan,  of 
which  the  main  outlines  were  as  follows: 

This  was  Tuesday.  On  Friday  night,  the 
Colonel,  with  twenty  determined  ruffians 
(or  resolute  patriots)  previously  bound  to 
him,  body  and  soul,  by  a  donation  of  no  less 
than  fifty  dollars  a  man,  was  to  surprise  the 
Golden  House,  seize  the  person  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  all  cash  and  securities  on  the 
premises;  no  killing  if  it  could  be  avoided, 
but  on  the  other  hand  no  shilly-shally. 
McGregor  wanted  to  put  the  President  out 

87 


88  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

of  tho  way  at  once,  as  a  precautionary 
measiiro,  but  I  strongly  opposed  this  pro- 
posal, ami,  finding  the  Signorina  was  ab- 
solutely inflexible  on  the  same  side,  he 
yielded.  I  had  a  strong  desire  to  be  pres- 
ent at  this  midnight  surprise,  but  another 
duty  called  for  my  presence.  There  was  a 
gala  supper  at  the  barracks  that  evening, 
to  commemoi'ate  some  incident  or  other  in 
the  national  history,  and  I  was  to  be  pres- 
ent and  to  reply  to  the  toast  of  "The  Com- 
merce of  Aureataland."  My  task  was,  at 
all  hazards,  to  keep  this  party  going  till  the 
Colonel's  job  was  done,  when  he  would  ap- 
pear at  the  soldiers'  quarters,  bribe  in 
hand,  and  demand  their  allegiance.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  troops 
nmde  us  regard  the  result  as  a  certainty, 
if  once  the  President  were  a  prisoner  and 
the  dollars  before  their  eyes.  The  Colonel 
and  the  troops  were  to  surround  the  officers' 
messroom,  and  offer  them  life  and  largesse, 
or  death  and  destruction.  Here  again  we 
anticipated  their  choice  with  composure. 
The  army  vras  then  to  be  paraded  in  the 
Piazza,  the  tovrn  overawed    or   converted, 


THE   MINE   IS    LAID.  89 

and,  behold,  the  Revolution  was  accom- 
plished !  The  success  of  this  design  entirely 
depended  on  its  existence  remaining  a  dead 
secret  from  the  one  man  we  feared,  and  on 
that  one  man  being  found  alone  and  un- 
guarded at  twelve  o'clock  on  Friday  night. 
If  he  discovered  the  plot,  we  were  lost.  If 
he  took  it  into  his  head  to  attend  the  supper, 
our  difficulties  would  be  greatly  increased. 
At  this  point  we  turned  to  the  Signorina, 
and  I  said  briefly : 

"This  appears  to  be  where  you  come  iu, 
Signorina.  Permit  me  to  invite  you  to  dine 
with  his  Excellency  on  Friday  evening,  at 
eight  precisely." 

"You  mean,"  she  said  slowly,  "that  I  am 
to  keep  him  at  home,  and,  but  for  myself, 
alone,  on  Friday?" 

"Yes,"  said  I.     "Is  there  any  dififlculty?" 

"I  do  not  think  there  is  great  difficulty," 
she  said,  "but  I  don't  like  it;  it  looks  so 
treacherous." 

Of  course  it  did.  I  didn't  like  her  doing 
it  myself,  but  how  else  was  the  President 
to  be  secured? 

"Rather  late  to  think  of  that,  isn't  it?" 


00  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

asked  McGregor,  with  a  sneer.    "A  revolu- 
tion won't  run  on  high  moral  wheels." 

"Think  how  he  jockeyed  you  about  the 
money,"  said  I,  assuming  the  i)art  of  the 
tempter. 

"By  the  way,"  said  McGregor,  "it's  under- 
stood the  Signorina  enters  into  possession 
of  the  President's  country  villa,  isn't  it?" 

Now  my  poor  Signorina  had  a  longing 
for  that  choice  little  retreat,  and  between 
resentment  for  her  lost  money  and  a  desire 
for  the  pretty  house  on  the  one  hand,  and, 
on  the  other,  her  dislike  of  the  Delilah-like 
part  she  was  to  play,  she  was  sore  beset. 
Left  to  herself,  I  believe  she  would  have 
yielded  to  her  better  feelings  and  spoilt  the 
plot.  As  it  w^as,  the  Colonel  and  1,  alarmed 
at  this  recrudescence  of  conscience,  man- 
aged to  stifle  its  promptings,  and  bent  her 
to  our  wicked  will. 

"After  all,  he  deser\^es  it,"  she  said,  "and 
I'll  do  it!" 

It  is  always  sad  to  see  anybody  suffering 
from  a  loss  of  self-respect,  so  I  tried  to  re- 
store the  Signorina's  confidence  in  her  own 
motives  bv  references  to  Ja<^I  (he  wife  of 


THE    MINE   IS    LAID.  91 

Heber  the  Kenite,  Charlotte  Corday,  and 
such  other  relentless  heroines  as  occurred 
to  me.  McGregor  looked  upon  this  striving 
after  self-justification  with  undisguised 
contempt. 

"It's  onh^  making  a  fool  of  him  again," 
he  said;  "you've  done  it  before,  you  know!" 

"I'll  do  it,  if  you'll  swear  not  to — to  hurt 
him,"  she  said. 

"I've  promised  already,"  he  replied  sul- 
lenly; "I  Avon't  touch  him,  unless  he  brings 
it  on  himself.  If  he  tries  to  kill  me,  I  sup- 
pose I  needn't  bare  my  breast  to  the  blow?" 

"No,  no,"  I  interposed;  "I  have  a  regard 
for  his  Excellency,  but  we  must  not  let  our 
feelings  betray  us  into  weakness.  He  must 
be  taken — alive  and  well,  if  possible — but 
in  the  last  resort,  dead  or  alive." 

"Come,  that's  more  like  sense,"  said  the 
Colonel,  approvingly. 

The  Signorina  sighed,  but  opposed  us  no 
longer. 

Returning  to  ways  and  means,  we  ar- 
ranged for  communication  in  case  of  need 
during  the  next  three  days  without  the  ne- 
cessity of  meeting.      My    position,  as   the 


92  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

center  of  tinancial  business  in  Whitting- 
ham,  made  this  easy;  the  passage  of  bank 
messengers  to  and  fro  would  excite  little 
remark,  and  the  messages  could  easily  be 
so  expressed  as  to  reveal  nothing  to  an  un- 
instructed  eye.  It  was  further  agreed  that 
on  the  smallest  hint  of  danger  reaching  any 
one  of  us,  the  word  should  at  once  be  passed 
to  the  others,  and  we  should  rendezvous  at 
the  Colonel's  "ranch,"  which  lay  some  seven 
miles  from  the  town.  Thence,  in  this  la- 
mentable case,  escape  would  be  more  pos- 
sible. 

"And  now,"  said  the  Colonel,  "if  Martin 
will  hand  over  the  dollars,  I  think  that's 
about  all." 

I  had  brought  the  10,000  dollars  with  me. 
I  produced  them  and  put  them  on  the  table, 
keeping  a  loving  hand  on  them. 

"You  fully  understand  my  position.  Colo- 
nel?" I  said.  "This  thing  is  no  use  to  me 
unless  I  receive  at  least  320,000  dollars,  to 
pay  back  principal,  to  meet  interest,  and 
to  replace  another  small  debt  to  the  bank. 
If  I  do  that,  I  shall  be  left  with  a  net  profit 
of  5,000  dollars,  not  an  extravagant  reward. 


THE   MINE   IS    LAID.  93 

If  I  don't  get  that  sum  I  shall  be  a  de- 
faulter, revolution  or  no  revolution." 

"I  can't  make  money  if  it's  not  there," 
he  said,  but  without  his  usual  brusqueness 
of  tone.  "But  to  this  we  agree.  You  are 
to  have  first  turn  at  anything  we  find,  up 
to  the  sum  you  name.  It's  to  be  handed 
over  solid  to  vou.  The  Signorina  and  I 
take  the  leavings.  You  don't  claim  to  share 
them  too,  do  you?" 

"No,"  I  said,  "I'm  content  to  be  a  prefer- 
ence shareholder.  If  the  money's  found  at 
the  Golden  House,  it's  mine.  If  not,  the 
new  Government,  whatever  it  may  do  as 
to  the  rest  of  the  debt,  will  pay  me  that 
sum." 

With  that  I  pushed  my  money  over  to  the 
Colonel. 

"I  expect  the  new  Government  to  be  very 
considerate  to  the  bondholders  all  round," 
said  the  Colonel,  as  he  pocketed  it  with  a 
chuckle.  "Anyhow,  your  terms  are  agreed, 
eh,  Signorina?" 

"Agreed !"  said  she.  "And  I'm  to  have  the 
country  seat?" 

"Agreed!"  said  I.    "And  the  Colonel's  to 


94  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

be  President  and  to  have  the  Goldou  House 
and  all  that  therein  is." 

"Agreed!  agreed!  agreed!"  chanted  the 
Signorina;  "and  that's  quite  enough  busi- 
ness, and  it's  very  late  for  me  to  be  enter- 
taining gentlemen.  One  toast,  and  then 
good-night.  Success  to  the  Revolution!  To 
be  drunk  in  blood-red  wine!" 

As  there  was  no  red  wine  except  claret, 
and  that  lies  cold  on  the  stomach  at  three 
in  the  morning,  we  drank  it  in  French 
brandy.  1  had  risen  to  go,  when  a  sudden 
thought  struck  me. 

"By  Jupiter!  where's  Johnny  Carr?  I 
say.  Colonel,  how  drunk  was  he  last  night? 
Do  you  think  he  remembers  telling  you 
about  it?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  Colonel,  "I  expect  he  does 
by  now.  He  didn't  when  I  left  him  this 
morning." 

"Will  he  confess  to  the  President?  If 
he  does,  it  might  make  the  old  man  keep 
an  unpleasantly  sharp  eye  on  you.  He 
knows  you  don't  love  him." 

"Well,  Carr  hasn't  seen  the  President  yet 
He  was  to  stay  at  my  house  over  to-day. 


THE    MINE   IS    LAID.  95 

He  was  uncommon  seedy  this  morning,  and 
I  persuaded  the  doctor  to  give  him  a  com- 
posing draught.  Fact  is,  I  wanted  him 
quiet  till  I'd  had  time  to  think!  You  know 
1  don't  believe  he  would  own  up — the  Pres- 
ident would  drop  on  him  so;  but  he  might, 
and  it's  better  they  shouldn't  meet." 

"There's  somebody  else  he  oughtn't  to 
meet,"  said  the  Signorina. 

"Who's  that?"  I  asked. 

"Donna  Antonia,"  she  replied.  "He's  get- 
ting very  fond  of  her,  and  depend  upon  it, 
if  he's  in  trouble  he'll  go  and  tell  her  the 
first  thing.  Mr.  Carr  is  very  confidential 
to  his  friends." 

"We  recognized  the  value  of  this  sugges- 
tion. If  Donna  Antonia  knew,  the  Presi- 
dent would  soon  know. 

"Quite  right,"  said  the  Colonel.  "It  won't 
do  to  have  him  rushing  about  letting  out 
that  we  know  all  about  it.  He's  all  right 
up  to  now." 

"Yes,  but  if  he  gets  restive  to-morrow 
morning?"  said  I.  "And  then  you  don't 
want  him  at  the  Golden  House  on  Friday 
evening,  and  I  don't  want  him  at  the 
barracks." 


96  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

"No,  he'd  show  fight,  Can*  would,"  said 
the  Colonel.  "Look  here,  we're  in  for  this 
thing,  and  I'm  going  through  with  it.  1 
shall  keep  Carr  at  my  house  till  it's  all 
over." 

"How?"  asked  the  Signorina. 

"By  love,  if  possible!"  said  the  Colonel, 
with  a  grin — "that  is,  by  drink.  Failing 
that,  by  force.  It's  essential  that  the  old 
man  shouldn't  get  wind  of  anything  being 
up;  and  if  Carr  told  him  about  last  night 
he'd  prick  up  his  wicked  old  ears.  No, 
Master  Johnny  is  better  quiet." 

"Suppose  he  turns  nasty,"  I  suggested 
again. 

"He  may  turn  as  nasty  as  he  likes,"  said 
the  Colonel.  "He  don't  leave  my  house  un- 
less he  puts  a  bullet  into  me  first.  That  is 
settled.  Leave  it  to  me.  If  he  behaves 
nicely,  he'll  be  all  right.     If  not — " 

'^^hat  shall  you  do  to  him?"  asked  the 
Signorina. 

I  foresaw  another  outburst  of  conscience, 
and  though  I  liked  Johnny,  I  liked  myself 
better.    So  I  said: 

"Oh,  leave  it  to  the  Colonel;  he'll  man- 
age all  right." 


THE   MINK  IS   LAID.  i)7 

"Now  I'm  off,"  said  the  latter,  "back  to 
my  friend  Johnny.  Good-night,  Signorina. 
Write  to  the  President  to-morrow.  Good- 
night, Martin.  Make  that  speech  of  yours 
pretty  long.     An  revoir  till  next  Friday." 

I  preijared  to  go,  for  the  Colonel  lingered 
till  I  came  with  him.  Even  then  we  so  dis- 
trusted one  another  that  neither  wouhl 
leave  the  other  alone  with  the  Signorina. 

We  parted  at  the  door,  he  going  off  up 
the  road  to  get  his  horse  and  ride  to  his 
"ranch,"  I  turning  down  toward  the  Piazza. 

We  left  the  Signorina  at  the  door,  look- 
ing pale  and  Aveary,  and  for  once  bereft  of 
her  high  spirits.  Poor  girl!  She  found 
conspiracy  rather  trying  work. 

I  was  a  little  troubled  myself.  I  began 
to  see  more  clearly  that  it  doesn't  do  for  a 
man  of  scruples  to  dabble  in  politics.  I 
had  a  great  regard  for  poor  Johnny,  and  I 
felt  no  confidence  in  the  Colonel  treating 
him  with  any  consideration.  In  fact,  I 
would  not  have  insured  Johnny's  life  for 
the  next  week  at  any  conceivable  premium. 
Again  I  thought  it  unlikely  that,  if  we  suc- 
ceeded, the    President   would    survive   his 


98  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

downfall.  I  had  to  repeat  to  myself  all  the 
story  of  his  treachery  to  me,  lashin<jf  myself 
into  a  fury  against  him,  before  I  could  bring 
myself  to  think  with  resignation  of  the  im- 
minent extinction  of  that  shining  light. 
What  a  loss  he  would  be  to  the  world!  So 
many  delightful  stories,  so  great  a  gift  of 
manner,  so  immense  a  personal  charm — all 
to  disappear  into  the  pit!  And  for  what? 
To  put  into  his  place  a  ruffian  without  re- 
deeming qualities.  Was  it  worth  while  to 
put  down  Lucifer  only  to  enthrone  Beelze- 
bub? I  could  only  check  this  doleful  strain 
of  reflection  by  sternly  recalling  myself  to 
the  real  question — the  state  of  the  fortunes 
of  me,  John  Martin.  And  to  me  the  revo- 
lution was  necessary.  I  might  get  the 
money;  at  least  I  should  gain  time.  And  I 
might  satisfy  my  love.  I  was  animated  by 
the  honorable  motive  of  saving  my  employ- 
ers from  loss  and  by  the  overwhelming  mo- 
tive of  my  own  passion.  If  the  continued 
existence  of  Johnny  and  the  President  was 
incompatible  with  these  legitimate  objects, 
so  much  the  worse  for  Johnny  and  the 
President. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL. 

The  next  three  days  were  on  the  whole 
the  most  uncomfortable  I  have  ever  spent 
in  my  life.  I  got  little  sleep  and  no  rest; 
I  went  about  with  a  revolver  handy  all  day, 
and  jumped  every  time  I  heard  a  sound, 
I  expended  much  change  in  buying  every 
edition  of  all  the  papers;  I  listened  with 
dread  to  the  distant  cries  of  news  vendors, 
fearing,  as  the  words  gradually'  became  dis- 
tinguishable, to  hear  that  our  secret  was  a 
secret  no  longer.  I  was  bound  to  show  my- 
self, and  yet  shrank  from  all  gatherings  of 
men.  I  transacted  my  business  with  an 
absent  mind  and  a  face  of  such  super- 
human innocence  that,  had  anyone  been 
watching  me,  he  must  at  once  have  sus- 
pected something  wrong.  I  was  incapable 
of  adding  up  a  row  of  figures,  and  Jones  be- 
came most  solicitous  about  the  state  of  my 
brain.      In  a  word  my  nerves  were  quite 

99 


100  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

shattered,  and  I  registered  a  vow  never  to 
upset  a  Government  again  as  long  as  I 
lived.  In  future  the  established  constitu- 
tion would  have  to  be  good  enough  for  me. 
I  invoked  impartial  curses  on  the  President, 
the  Colonel,  the  Directors,  and  myself;  and 
I  verily  believe  that  only  the  thought  of  the 
Signorina  prevented  me  making  a  moon- 
light flitting  across  the  frontier  with  a 
whole  skin  at  least,  if  with  an  empty  pocket, 
and  leaving  the  rival  patriots  of  Aureata- 
land  to  fight  it  out  among  themselves. 

Happily,  however,  nothing  occurred  to 
justify  m}^  fears.  The  other  side  -seemed 
to  be  sunk  in  dull  securitv.  The  President 
went  often  to  the  Ministry  of  Finance,  and 
was  closeted  for  hours  with  Don  Antonio; 
I  suppose  they  were  perfecting  their  nefa- 
rious scheme.  There  were  no  signs  of  ex- 
citement or  activity  at  the  barracks;  the 
afternoon  gatherings  on  the  Piazza  were 
occupied  with  nothing  more  serious  than 
the  prospects  of  lawn  tennis  and  the  griev- 
ous dearth  of  dances.  The  official  an- 
nouncements relative  to  the  debt  bad  had 
a  quieting  effect,  and  all  classes  seemed  in- 


JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL.  101 

clined  to  wait  and  see  what  the  President's 
new  plan  was. 

So  passed  Wednesday  and  Thursday.  On 
neither  day  had  I  heard  anything  from  my 
fellow-conspirators;  our  arrangements  for 
writing  had  so  far  proved  unnecessary — or 
unsuccessful.  The  latter  possibility  sent  a 
shiver  down  my  back,  and  my  lively  fancy 
pictured  his  Excellency's  smile  as  he  pe- 
rused the  treasonable  documents.  If  I  heard 
nothing  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  I  was  de- 
termined at  all  risks  to  see  the  Colonel. 
With  the  dawn  of  that  eventful  day,  how- 
ever, I  was  relieved  of  this  necessity.  I  was 
lying  in  bed  about  half-past  nine  (for  I 
never  add  to  the  woes  of  life  by  early  rising) 
when  my  servant  brought  in  three  letters. 

"Sent  on  from  the  bank,  sir,"  he  said, 
''with  Mr.  Jones'  compliments,  and  are  you 
going  there  this  morning?" 

"My  compliments  to  Mr.  Jones,  and  he 
may  expect  me  in  five  minutes,"  I  replied. 

The  letters  were  all  marked  "Immediate" 
— one  from  the  Signorina,  one  from  the 
Colonel,  one  from  the  barracks.  I  opened 
the  last  first  and  read  as  follows: — 


102  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

"The  officers  of  the  Aureataland  Armj^ 
have  the  honor  to  remind  Mr.  John  Martin 
that  they  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  his 
company  at  supper  this  evening  at  10  p.  m. 
precisely.  In  the  unavoidable  absence  of 
his  Excellency  the  President,  owing  to 
pressing  cares  of  State,  and  of  the  Hon. 
Colonel  McGregor  from  indisposition,  the 
toast  of  the  Army  of  Aureataland  will 
be  proposed  by  Major  Alphonse  DeChair. 

"P.  S. — Cher  Martin,  speak  long  this 
night.  The  two  great  men  do  not  come, 
and  the  evening  wants  to  be  filled  out. 
Tout  a  vouSf  Alphonse  DeChair." 

"It  shall  be  long,  my  dear  boy,  and  we 
will  fill  out  your  evening  for  you,"  said  I 
to  myself,  well  pleased  so  far. 

Then  I  opened  the  Signonna's  epistle. 

"Dear  Mr.  Martin,"  it  began — "Will  you 
be  so  kind  as  to  send  me  in  the  course  of 
the  day  twenty  dollars  in  small  change?  I 
want  to  give  the  school-children  a  scramble. 
I  enclose  check.    I  am  so  sorry  you  could 


JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL.  103 

not  dine  with  me  to-night,  but  after  all  I 
am  glad,  because  I  should  have  had  to  put 
you  off,  for  I  am  commanded  rather  sud- 
denly to  dine  at  the  Golden  House.  With 
kind  regards — Believe  me,  yours  sincerely, 

"Christina  Nugent." 

"Very  good,"  said  I.  "I  reckon  the 
scramble  will  keep.  And  now  for  the  Colo- 
nel." 

The  Colonel's  letter  ran  thus: — 

"Dear  Martin — I  enclose  check  for  500 
dollars.  My  man  will  call  for  the  cash  to- 
morrow morning.  I  give  you  notice  be- 
cause I  want  it  all  in  silver  for  wages." 
(Rather  a  poverty  of  invention  among  us, 
I  thought)  "Carr  and  I  are  here  together, 
both  seedy.  Poor  Carr  is  on  his  back,  and 
likely  to  remain  there  for  a  day  or  two — 
bad  attack  of  champagne.  I'm  better,  and 
though  I've  cut  the  affair  at  barracks  to- 
night, I  fully  expect  to  be  up  and  about  this 
afternoon. — Ever  vours, 

"Geo.  McGregor." 


104  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

"Oh,  SO  Carr  is  on  his  back  and  likely 
to  remain  there,  is  he?  Very  likely,  I  ex- 
pect; but  I  wonder  what  it  means.  I  hope 
the  Colonel  hasn't  been  very  drastic.  How- 
ever, everything-  seems  right;  in  fact,  better 
than  I  hoped." 

In  this  more  cheerful  frame  of  mind  I 
arose,  breakfasted  at  leisure,  and  set  out 
for  the  bank  about  eleven. 

Of  course  the  first  person  I  met  in  the 
street  was  one  of  the  last  I  wanted  to  meet, 
namely.  Donna  Antonia.  She  was  on  horse- 
back, and  her  horse  looked  as  if  he'd  done 
some  work.  At  the  sight  of  me  she  reined 
up,  and  I  could  not  avoid  stopping  as  I 
lifted  my  hat. 

"Whence  so  early?"  I  asked. 

"Early?"  she  said.  "I  don't  call  this 
early,  I've  been  for  a  long  ride;  in  fact, 
I've  ridden  over  to  Mr.  Tarr's  place,  with  a 
message  from  papa;  but  he's  not  there.  Do 
you  know  where  he  is,  Mr.  Martin?" 

"Haven't  an  idea,"  said  I. 

"He  hasn't  been  home  for  four  nights," 
she  continued,  "and  he  hasn't  been  to  the 
Ministry  either.      It's    very    odd    that    he 


JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL.  105 

should  disappear  like  this,  just  when  all  the 
business  is  going  on,  too." 

"What  business,  Donna  Antonia?"  I 
asked,  blandly. 

She  colored,  leeollecting,  no  doubt,  that 
the  business  was  still  a  secret. 

"Oh,  well,  you  know  they're  always  busy 
at  the  Ministr}^  of  Finance  at  this  time.  It's 
the  time  they  pay  everybody,  isn't  it?" 

"It's  the  time  they  ought  to  pay  every- 
body," I  said. 

"Well,"  she  went  on,  without  noticing  my 
correction,  "at  any  rate,  i)apa  and  the  Pres- 
ident are  both  very  much  vexed  with  him; 
so  I  offered  to  make  my  ride  in  his  direc- 
tion." 

"Where  can  he  be?"  I  asked  again. 

"Well,"  she  replied,  "I  believe  he's  at 
Colonel  McGregor's,  and  after  lunch  I  shall 
go  over  there.  I  know  he  dined  there  on 
Monday,  and  I  daresay  he  stayed  on." 

"No,"  thought  I,  "you  musn't  do  that,  it 
might  be  inconvenient."  So  I  said: 

"I  know  he's  not  there;  I  heard  from 
McGregor  this  morning,  and  he  says  Carr 
left  him  on  Tuesday.     Why,  how  stupid  I 


106  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

am!  The  Colonel  says  Carr  told  him  he 
was  going  off  for  a  couple  of  days'  sail  in 
his  yacht  I  expect  he's  got  contrary  winds, 
and  can't  get  back  again." 

"It's  very  bad  of  him  to  go,"  she  said, "but 
no  doubt  that's  it.  Papa  will  be  angry,  but 
he'll  be  glad  to  know  no  harm  has  come  to 
him." 

"Happy  to  have  relieved  your  mind," 
said  T,  and  bade  her  farewell,  thanking  my 
stars  for  a  lucky  inspiration,  and  wonder- 
ing whether  Don  Antonio  would  find  no 
harm  had  come  to  poor  Johnny.  I  had  my 
doubts.  T  regretted  having  to  tell  Donna 
Antonia  what  I  did  not  believe  to  be  true, 
but  these  things  are  incidental  to  revolu- 
tions, a  point  of  resemblance  between  them 
and  commercial  life. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  bank  T  dispatched 
brief  answers  to  my  budget  of  letters;  each 
of  the  answers  was  to  the  same  purport, 
namely,  that  T  should  be  at  the  barracks 
at  the  appointed  time.  I  need  not  trouble 
the  reader  with  the  various  wrappings  in 
which  this  essential  piece  of  intelligence 
was  involved.     T  then  had  a  desperate  en- 


JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL.  107 

counter  with  Jones;    business  was  slack, 
and  Jones  was  fired  with  the  unholy  desire 
of  seizing  the  opportunity  thus  offered  to 
make  an  exhaustive  inquiry  into  the  state 
of  our  reserve.     He  could  not  understand 
my  sudden  punctiliousness  as  to  times  and 
seasons,  and  I  was  afraid  I  should  have  to 
tell  him  plainly  that  only  over  my  lifeless 
body  should   he  succeed   in   investigating 
the  contents  of  the  safe.     At  last  I  effected 
a  diversion  by  persuading  him  to  give  Mrs. 
Jones  a  jaunt  into  the  country,  and,  thus 
left  in  peace,  I  spent  my  afternoon  in  mak- 
ing final  preparations.     I  burnt  many  let- 
ters;   I  wrote  a  touching  farewell  to  my 
father,  in  which,  under  the  guise  of  offering 
forgiveness,  I  took  occasion  to  point  out  to 
him    how   greatly   his   imprudent   conduct 
had  contributed  to  increase  the  difficulties 
of  his  dutiful  son.     I  was  only  restrained 
from  making  a  will  by  the  obvious  impru- 
dence of  getting  it  witnessed.     I  spent  a 
feverish    hour    in    firing   imaginary    shots 
from  my  revolver,  to  ascertain  whether  the 
instrument  was  in  working  order.   Finally, 
I  shut  up  the  bank  at  five,  went  to  the 


108  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

Piazza,  partook  of  a  light  repast,  aud 
smoked  cigars  with  mad  speed  till  it  was 
time  to  dress  for  the  supper;  and  never  was 
I  more  rejoiced  than  when  the  moment  for 
action  at  last  came.  As  I  was  dressing, 
lingering  over  each  garment  with  a  feeling 
that  I  might  never  put  it  on,  or,  for  that 
matter,  take  it  off  again,  I  received  a  sec- 
ond note  from  the  Colonel.  It  was  brought 
by  a  messenger,  on  a  sweating  horse,  who 
galloped  up  to  my  door,  I  knew  the  mes- 
senger well  by  sight;  he  was  the  Colonel's 
valet.  My  heart  was  in  my  mouth  as  I  took 
the  envelope  from  his  hands  (for  I  ran  down 
myself).  The  fellow  was  evidently  in  our 
secret,  for  he  grinned  nervously  at  me  as 
he  handed  it  over,  and  said: 

"I  was  to  ride  fast,  and  destroy  the  letter 
if  any  one  came  near." 

I  nodded.,  and  opened  it.     It  said: 

"C.  escaped  about  six  this  evening. 
Believed  to  have  gone  to  his  house.  He 
suspects.     If  you  see  him,  shoot  on  sight" 

I  turned  to  the  man. 


JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL.  109 

"Had  Mr.  Carr  a  horse?"  I  asked. 

"No,  sir;   left  on  foot." 

"But  there  are  horses  at  his  house?" 

"No,  sir,  the  Colonel  has  borrowed  them 
all." 

"Why  do  you  think  he's  gone  there?" 

"Couldn't  come  along  the  road  to  Whit- 
tingham,  sir,  it's  patroled." 

There  was  still  a  chance.  It  was  ten 
miles  across  country  from  the  Colonel's  to 
Johnny's,  and  six  miles  on  from  Johnny's 
to  Whittingham.  The  man  divined  my 
thoughts. 

"He  can't  go  fast,  sir,  he's  wounded  in 
the  leg.  If  he  goes  home  first,  as  he  will, 
because  he  doesn't  know  his  horses  are 
gone,  he  can't  get  here  before  eleven  at  the 
earliest." 

"How  was  he  wounded?"  I  asked.  "Tell 
me  what  the  Colonel  did  to  him,  and  be 
short." 

"Yes,  sir.  The  Colonel  told  us  Mr.  Carr 
was  to  be  kept  at  the  ranch  over  night; 
wasn't  to  leave  it  alive,  sir,  he  said.  Well, 
up  to  yesterday  it  was  all  right  and  pleas- 
ant.    Mr.  Carr  wasn't  very  well,  and  the 


110  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

doses  the  C'olonol  gave  him  didn't  seem  to 
make  him  any  better — quite  the  contrary. 
But  yesterday  afternoon  he  got  rampa- 
geous— would  go,  anyhow,  ill  or  well!  So 
he  got  up  and  dressed.  We'd  taken  all  his 
weapons  from  him,  sir,  and  when  he  came 
down  dressed,  and  asked  for  his  liorse,  we 
told  him  he  couldn't  go.  Well,  he  just 
said,  'Get  out  of  the  light,  I  tell  you,'  and 
began  walking  toward  the  hall  door.  I 
don't  mind  saying  we  were  rather  put 
about,  sir.  We  didn't  care  to  shoot 
him  as  he  stood,  and  it's  my  belief 
we'd  have  let  him  pass;  but  just  as  he  was 
going  out,  in  comes  the  Colonel.  'Hullo, 
what's  this,  Johnny?'  says  he.  'You've  got 
some  damned  scheme  on,'  said  Mr.  Carr.  'I 
believe  you've  been  drugging  me.  Out  of 
the  way,  McGregor,  or  I'll  brain  you.' 
'Where  are  you  going?'  says  the  Colonel, 
To  Whittingham,  to  the  President's,'  said 
he.  'Not  to-day,'  says  the  Colonel.  'Come, 
be  reasonable,  Johnny.  You'll  be  all  right 
to-morrow.'  'Colonel  McGregor,'  says  he, 
'I'm  unarmed^  and  you've  got  a  revolver. 
You  can  shoot  me  if  you  like,  but  unless 


Cl 


JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL.  Ill 

you  do,  I'm  going  out.  You've  been  play- 
ing some  dodge  on  me,  and,  by  God,  you 
shall  pay  for  it'  With  that  he  rushed 
straight  at  the  Colonel.  The  Colonel,  he 
stepped  on  one  side  and  let  him  pass. 
Then  he  went  after  him  to  the  door,  waited 
till  he  was  about  fifteen  yards  off,  then  up 
with  his  revolver,  as  cool  as  you  like,  and 
shot  him  as  clean  as  a  sixpence  in  the  right 
leg.  Down  came  Mr.  Carr;  he  lay  there  a 
minute  or  t"s^'o  cursing,  and  then  he  fainted. 
Tick  him  up,  dress  his  wound,  and  put  him 
to  bed,'  says  the  Colonel.  Well,  sir,  it  was 
only  a  flesh  wound,  so  we  soon  got  him 
comfortable,  and  there  he  lay  all  night." 
"How  did  he  get  away  to-day?" 
"We  were  all  out,  sir — went  over  to  Mr. 
Cari-'s  place  to  borrow  his  horses.  The 
Colonel  took  a  message,  sir."  (Here  the 
fellow  grinned  again.)  "I  don't  know  what 
it  was.  Well,  when  we'd  got  the  horses, 
we  rode  round  outside  the  town,  and  came 
into  the  road  between  here  and  the 
Colonel's.  Ten  horses  we'd  got,  and  we 
went  there  to  give  the  ten  men  who  were 
patrol ing  the  road  the  fresh  horses.      We 


112  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

heard  from  them  that  no  one  had  come 
along.  When  we  got  home,  he^d  been  gone 
two  hours!" 

"Plow  did  he  manage  it?" 

"A  W'Oman,  sir,"  said  ray  warrior,  with 
supreme  disgust.  "GaA^e  her  a  kiss  and  ten 
dollars  to  undo  the  front  door,  and  then 
he  was  off!  He  daren't  go  to  the  stables 
to  get  a  horse,  so  he  was  forced  to  limp 
away  on  his  game  leg.  A  plucky  one  he  is, 
too."  he  concluded. 

"Poor  old  Johnny,"  said  I.  "You  didn't 
go  after  him?" 

"No  time,  sir.  Couldn't  tire  the  horses. 
Besides,  when  he'd  once  got  home,  he^s  got 
a  dozen  men  there,  and  they'd  have  kept 
us  all  night.  Well,  sir,  I  must  be  off.  Any 
answer  for  the  Colonel?  He'll  be  outside 
the  Golden  House  by  eleven,  sir,  and  Mr. 
Carr  won't  get  in  if  he  comes  after  that." 

"Tell  him  to  rely  on  me,"  I  answered. 
But  for  all  that  I  didn't  mean  to  shoot 
Johnny  on  sight. 

So,  much  perturbed  in  spirit,  I  set  off  to 
the  barracks,  wondering  when  Johnny 
would  get  to  Whittingham,  and  whether 


JOHNNY  CARR  IS  WILLFUL.  113 

he  would  fall  into  the  Colonel's  hands  out- 
side the  Golden  House.  It  struck  me  as 
unpleasantly  probable  that  he  might  come 
and  spoil  the  harmony  of  my  evening;  if 
he  came  there  first,  the  conspiracy  would 
probably  lose  my  aid  at  an  early  moment. 
What  would  happen  to  me  I  didn't  know. 
But  as  I  took  off  my  coat  in  the  lobby,  I 
bent  down  as  if  to  tie  a  shoestring,  and  had 
one  more  look  at  my  reA^olver. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  SUPPER   PARTY. 

I  shall  never  forget  that  supper  as  long 
as  I  live.  Considered  merely  as  a  social 
gathering  it  would  be  memorable  enough, 
for  I  never  before  or  since  sat  at  meat  with 
ten  such  queer  customers  as  my  hosts  of 
that  evening.  The  officers  of  the  Aureata- 
land  Army  were  a  very  mixed  lot — two  or 
three  Spanish  Americans,  three  or  four 
Brazilians,  and  the  balance  Americans  of 
the  type  their  countrymen  are  least  proud 
of.  If  there  was  an  honest  man  among 
them  he  sedulously  concealed  his  title  to 
distinction;  I  know  there  wasn't  a  sober 
one.  The  amount  of  liquor  consumed  was 
portentous,  and  I  gloated  with  an  unholy 
joy  as  I  saw  man  after  man  rapidly  making 
himself  what  diplomatists  call  a  quantite 
negligeable.  The  conversation  needed  all 
the  excuse  the  occasion  could  afford,  and 
the   wit   would     have    appeared    unduly 

114 


A  SUPPER   PARTY.  115 

coarse  in  a  common  pot-house.  All  this 
might  have  passed  from  my  memory,  or 
blended  in  a  subdued  harmony  with  my 
general  imj)ressiou  of  Aureataland;  but 
the  peculiar  position  in  which  I  stood  gave 
to  my  mind  an  unusual  activity  of  percep- 
tion. Among  this  band  of  careless  drunken 
revelers  I  sat  vigilant,  restless  and  impa- 
tient; feigning  to  take  a  leading  part  in 
their  dissolute  hilarity,  I  was  sober,  collect- 
ed, and  alert  to  my  very  finger-tips.  I 
anxiously  watched  their  bearing  and  ex- 
pression. I  led  them  on  to  speak  of  the 
President,  rejoicing  when  I  elicited  open 
murmurs  and  covert  threats  at  his  base  in- 
gratitude to  the  men  on  whose  support  his 
power  rested.  They  had  not  been  paid  for 
six  months,  and  were  ripe  for  any  mischief. 
I  was  more  than  once  tempted  to  forestall 
the  Colonel  and  begin  the  revolution  on  my 
own  account;  only  my  inability  to  produce 
before  their  eyes  any  arguments  of  the  sort 
they  would  listen  to  restrained  me. 

Eleven  o'clock  had  come  and  gone.  The 
Senior  Captain  had  proposed  the  Presi- 
dent's   health.     It    was    drunk    in    sullen 


116  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

silence;   I  was  the  only  man  who  honored 
it  by  rising  from  his  seat. 

The  Major  had  proposed  the  Army,  and 
they  had  drunk  deep  to  their  noble  selves. 
A  young-  man  of  weak  expression  and  qua- 
vering legs  had  proposed,  "The  Commerce 
of  Aureataland,  coupled  with  the  name  of 
Mr.  John  Martin,"  in  laudatory  but  inco- 
herent terms,  and  I  was  on  my  legs  reply- 
ing. Oh,  that  speech  of  mine!  For  dis- 
cursiveness, for  repetition,  for  sheer  inan- 
ity, I  suppose  it  has  never  been  equaled. 
I  droned  steadily  awa}^,  interrupted  only 
by  cries  for  fresh  supplies  of  wine;  as  I 
went  on  the  audience  paid  less  and  less 
attention.  It  was  past  twelve.  The  well 
of  my  eloquence  was  running  drier  and 
drier,  and  yet  no  sound  outside!  I  won- 
dered how  long  they  would  stand  it  and 
how  long  I  could  stand  it.  At  12:15  I  be- 
gan my  peroration.  Hardly  had  I  done  so, 
when  one  of  the  voung  men  started  in  a 
gentle  voice  an  utterly  indescribable  ditty. 
One  by  one  they  took  it  up,  till  the  rising 
tide  of  voices  drowned  my  fervent  periods. 
Perforce  I  stopped.     They  were  all  on  their 


A  SUPPER   PARTY.  117 

feet  now.  Did  they  mean  to  break  up?  In 
despair  at  tlie  idea  I  lifted  up  my  voice, 
loud  and  distinct  (the  only  distinct  voice 
left  in  the  room),  in  the  most  shameful 
verse  of  that  shameful  composition,  and 
seizing-  my  neighbor's  hand  began  to  move 
slowly  round  the  table.  The  move  was  suc- 
cessful. Each  man  followed  suit,  and  the 
whole  party,  kicking  back  their  chairs,  re- 
volved with  lurching  steps  round  the  debris 
of  empty  bottles  and  cigar  ashes. 

The  room  was  thick  with  smoke,  and 
redolent  of  fumes  of  wine.  Mechanically 
I  led  the  chorus,  straining  eveiy  nerve  to 
hear  a  sound  from  outside.  I  was  growing- 
dizzy  with  the  movement,  and  overwrought 
with  the  strain  on  my  nerves,  I  knew  a  few 
minutes  more  would  be  the  limit  of  en- 
durance, when  at  last  I  heard  a  loud  shout 
and  tumult  of  voices. 

"What's  that?"  exclaimed  the  Major,  in 
thick  tones,  pausing  as  he  spoke. 

I  dropped  his  hand  and  seizing  my  re- 
volver, said: 

"Some  drunken  row  in  barracks,  Major. 
Let  'em  alone." 


118  A    MAN    OP   MARK. 

"I  must  go,"  he  said.  "Character — 
Aureataland — Army — at  stake." 

"Set  a  thief  to  catch  a  thief,  eh.  Major?" 
said  I. 

"What  do  you  mean,  sir?"  he  stuttered. 
"Let  me  go." 

"If  you  move,  I  shoot,  Major,"  said  I, 
bringing  out  my  weapon.  I  never  saw 
greater  astonishment  on  human  counte- 
nance. He  swore  loudly,  and  then  cried: 

"Hi,  stop  him — he's  mad — he's  going  to 
shoot!" 

A  shout  of  laughter  rose  from  the  crew 
around  us,  for  they  felt  exquisite  apprecia- 
tion of  my  supposed  joke. 

"Right  you  are,  Martin,"  cried  one.  "Keep 
him  quiet.  We  won't  go  home  till  morn- 
ing!" 

The  Major  turned  to  the  window.  It  was 
a  moonlight  night,  and  as  I  looked  with  him 
I  saw  the  courtyard  full  of  soldiers.  Who 
was  in  command?  The  answer  to  that 
meant  much  to  me. 

This  sight  somewhat  sobered  the  Major. 

"A  mutiny!"  he  cried.  "The  soldiers  have 
risen!" 


A   SUPPER   PARTY.  119 

"Go  to  bed,"  said  the  junior  ensign. 

'^Look  out  of  window!"  he  cried. 

They  all  staggered  to  the  window.  As 
the  soldiers  saw  them,  they  raised  a  shout. 
I  could  not  distinguish  whether  it  was  a 
greeting  or  a  threat.  They  took  it  as  the 
latter,  and  turned  to  the  door, 

"Stop!"  I  cried;  "I  shoot  the  first  man 
who  opens  the  door." 

In  wonder  they  turned  on  me.  I  stood 
facing  them,  revolver  in  hand.  They 
waited  huddled  together  for  an  instant, 
then  made  a  rush  at  me;  I  fired,  but 
missed.  I  had  a  vision  of  a  poised  de- 
canter; a  second  later,  the  missile  caught 
me  in  the  chest  and  hurled  me  back 
against  the  wall.  As  I  fell  I  dropped  my 
weapon,  and  they  were  upon  me.  I 
thought  it  was  all  over;  but  as  they 
surged  round,  in  the  madness  of  drink  and 
anger,  I,  looking  through  their  ranks,  saw 
the  door  open  and  a  crowd  of  men  rush  in. 
Who  was  at  their  head?  Thank  God,  it 
was  the  Colonel,  and  his  voice  rose  high 
above  the  tumult — 


120  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

"Order,  gentlemeu,  order."  Then  to  his 
men  he  added: 

"Each  mark  your  man,  and  two  of  you 
bring-  Mr.  Martin  here." 

I  was  saved.  To  explain  how,  I  must 
explain  what  had  been  happening  at  the 
Golden  House,  and  how  the  night  attack 
had  fared. 


H, 


CHAPTER.  X. 

TWO  SURPRISES. 

It  is  a  sad  necessity  that  compels  us  to 
pry  into  the  weaknesses  of  our  fellow-crea- 
tures, and  seek  to  turn  them  to  our  own 
profit.  I  am  not  philosopher  enough  to  say 
whether  this  course  of  conduct  derives  any 
justification  from  its  universality,  but  in 
the  region  of  practice.  I  have  never  hesi- 
tated to  place  myself  on  a  moral  level  with 
those  with  whom  I  had  to  deal.  I  may  oc- 
casionally even  have  left  the  other  party  to 
make  this  needful  adjustment,  and  I  have 
never  known  him  fail  to  do  so.  I  felt,  there- 
fore, very  little  scrapie  in  making  use  of 
the  one  weak  spot  discoverable  in  the  de- 
fenses of  our  redoubtable  opponent,  his  Ex- 
cellency the  President  of  Aureataland.  No 
doubt  the  readei^'s  eye  has  before  now  de- 
tected the  joint  in  that  great  man's  armor 
at  which  we  directed  our  missile.  As  a 
lover,  I  grudged  the  employment  of  the  Sig- 

121 


122  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

norina  in  this  service;  as  a  politician,  I  was 
proud  of  the  device;  as  a  human  being,  I 
recognized  what  we  are  very  ready  to  recog- 
nize, that  it  did  not  become  me  to  refuse 
to  work  with  such  instruments  as  appeared 
to  be  put  into  my  hands. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  verdict  of 
moralists  on  our  device,  events  proved  its 
wisdom.  The  President  had  no  cause  to 
suspect  a  trap;  therefore,  like  a  sensi- 
ble man,  he  chose  to  spend  the  evening  with 
the  Signorina  rather  than  with  his  gallant 
officers.  With  eqiially  good  taste,  he 
elected  to  spend  it  tete-a-tete  with  her,  when 
she  gave  him  the  opportunity.  In  our  sub- 
sequent conversations,  the  Signorina  was 
not  communicative  as  to  how  the  early 
hours  of  the  evening  passed.  She  preferred 
to  begin  her  narrative  from  the  point  when 
their  solitude  was  interrupted.  As  I  rely 
on  her  account  and  that  of  the  Colonel  for 
this  part  of  my  story,  I  am  compelled  to 
make  my  start  from  the  same  moment.  It 
appears  that  at  a  few  minutes  past  eleven 
o'clock,  when  the  President  was  peacefully 
smoking  a  cigar  and  listening  to  the  con- 


TWO    SURPRISES.  123 

versation  of  his  fair  guest  (whom  he  had 
galvanized  into  an  affected  liveliness  by 
alarming  remarks  on  her  apparent  preoc- 
cupation), there  fell  upon  his  ear  the  sound 
of  a  loud  knocking  at  the  door.  Dinner  had 
been  served  in  a  small  room  at  the  back  of 
the  house,  and  the  President  could  not  com- 
mand a  view  of  the  knocker  without  going 
out  on  to  the  veranda,  which  ran  all  round 
the  house,  and  walking  round  to  the  front. 
When  the  knock  was  heard,  the  Signorina 
started  up. 

"Don't  disturb  yourself,  pray,"  said  his 
Excellency  politely.  "I  gave  special  in- 
structions that  I  was  visible  to  no  one  this 
evening.  But  I  was  wondering  whether 
it  could  be  Johnny  Carr.  I  want  to  speak 
to  him  for  a  moment,  and  I'll  just  go  round 
outside  and  see  if  it  is." 

As  he  spoke,  a  discreet  tap  was  heard  at 
the  door. 

"Yes?"  said  the  President. 

"Mr.  Carr  is  at  the  door  and  particularly 
wants  to  see  your  Excellency.  An  urgent 
matter,  he  says." 

"Tell  him  I'll  come  round  and  speak  to 


124  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

him  from  the  veranda,"  replied  the  Presi- 
dent. 

He  turned  to  the  window,  and  threw  it 
open  to  step  out. 

Let  me  tell  what  followed  in  the  Signo- 
rina's  words. 

"Just  then  we  heard  a  sound  of  a  num- 
ber of  horses  galloping  up.  The  President 
stopped  and  said: 

"'Hullo,  what's  up?' 

"Then  there  was  a  shout  and  a  volley  of 
shots,  and  I  heard  the  Colonel's  voice  cry: 

"  'Down  with  your  arms;  down,  1  say,  or 
you're  dead  men!' 

"The  President  stepped  quickly  across 
the  room  to  his  escritoire,  took  uj^^his  re- 
volver, went  back  to  the  window,  passed 
through  it,  and  without  a  word  disap- 
peared. I  could  not  hear  even  the  sound  of 
his  feet  on  the  veranda. 

"I  heard  one  more  shot — then  a  rush  of 
men  to  the  door,  and  the  Colonel  burst  in, 
with  sword  and  revolver  in  his  hands,  and 
followed  by  ten  or  a  dozen  men. 

"I  ran  to  him,  terrified,  and  cried: 

"  'Oh,  is  anv  one  hurt?' 


TWO    SURPRISES.  125 

"He  took  no  notice,  but  asked  hastily: 

"  'Where  is  he?' 

"I  pointed  to  the  veranda,  and  gasped: 

"  'He  went  out  there.'  Then  I  turned  to 
one  of  the  men  and  said  again: 

"  'Is  any  one  hurt?' 

"  'Only  Mr,  Carr,'  he  replied.  'The  rest 
of  'em  were  a  precious  sight  too  careful  of 
themselves.' 

"  'And  is  he  killed?' 

"  'Don't  think  he's  dead,  miss,'  he  said. 
'But  he's  hurt  badly.' 

"As  I  turned  again,  I  saw  the  President 
standing  quite  calmly  in  the  window.  When 
the  Colonel  saw  him,  he  raised  his  revolver 
and  said: 

"  'Do  you  yield.  General  Whittingham? 
We  are  twelve  to  one.' 

"As  he  spoke,  every  man  covered  the 
President  with  his  aim.  The  latter  stood 
facing  the  twelve  revolvers,  his  own  weapon 
hanging  loosely  in  his  left  hand.  Then, 
smiling,  he  said  a  little  bitterly: 

"  'Heroics  are  not  in  my  line,  McGregor. 
I  suppose  this  is  a  popular  rising — that  is 
to  say,  you  have  bribed  my  men,  murdered 


126  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

my  best  friend,  and  beguiled  me  with  the 
lures  of  that — ' 

"I  could  not  bear  the  -word  that  hung  on 
his  lips,  and  with  a  sob  I  fell  on  a  sofa  and 
hid  my  face. 

"  ^Well,  we  mustn't  use  hard  names,'  he 
went  on  in  a  gentler  tone.  ^We  are  all  as 
God  made  us.  I  give  in,'  and,  throwing 
down  his  weapon,  he  asked,  'Have  you  quite 
killed  Carr?' 

"  'I  don't  know,'  said  the  Colonel,  imply- 
ing plainly  that  he  did  not  care  either. 

"  *I  suppose  it  was  you  that  shot  him?' 

"The  Colonel  nodded. 

"The  President  yawned,  and  looked  at  his 
watch. 

"  'As  I  have  no  part  in  to-night's  per- 
formance,' said  he,  'I  presume  I  am  at  lib- 
erty to  go  to  bed?' 

"The  Colonel  said,  curtly: 

"  'Where's  the  bedroom?' 

"  'In  there,'  said  the  President,  waving 
his  hand  to  a  door  facing  that  by  which 
the  Colonel  had  entered. 

"  'Permit  me,'  said  the  latter.     He  went 


TWO    SURPRISES.  127 

in,  no  doubt,  to  see  if  there  were  any  other 
egress.    Returning  shortly  he  said: 

"  'My  men  must  stay  here,  and  you  must 
leave  the  door  open.' 

"  'I  have  no  objection,'  said  the  President. 
'No  doubt  they  will  respect  my  modesty.' 

"  'Two  of  you  stay  in  this  room.  Two 
of  you  keep  watch  in  the  veranda,  one  at 
this  window,  the  other  at  the  bedroom 
window,  I  shall  put  three  more  sentries 
outside.  General  Whittingham  is  not  to 
leave  this  room.  If  you  hear  or  see  any- 
thing going  on  in  there,  go  in  and  put  him 
under  restraint.  Otherwise  treat  him  with 
respect.' 

"  'I  thank  you  for  your  civility,'  said  the 
President,  'also  for  the  compliment  implied 
in  these  precautions.  Is  it  over  this  matter 
of  the  debt  that  your  patriotism  has  drawn 
you  into  revolt?' 

"  'I  see  no  use  in  discussing  public  affairs 
at  this  moment,'  the  Colonel  replied.  'And 
my  presence  is  required  elsewhere.  I  re- 
gret that  I  cannot  relieve  you  of  the  preS' 
ence  of  these  men,  but  I  do  not  feel  I  should 

be  justified  in  accepting  your  parole.' 
o 


128  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

"The  President  did  not  seem  to  be 
angered  at  this  insult. 

"  *I  have  not  offered  it,'  he  said  simply. 
'It  is  better  you  should  take  your  own  meas- 
ures.    Need  I  detain  you,  Colonel?' 

"The  Colonel  did  not  answer  him,  but 
turned  to  me  and  said: 

"  'Signorina  Nugent,  we  wait  only  for 
you,  and  time  is  precious.' 

"  'I  will  follow  you  in  a  moment,'  I  said, 
with  my  head  still  among  the  cushions. 

"  'No,  come  now,'  he  commanded. 

"Looking  up,  I  saw  a  smile  on  the  Presi- 
dent's face.  As  I  rose  reluctantly,  he  also 
got  up  from  the  chair  into  which  he  had 
flung  himself,  and  stopped  me  with  a  ges- 
ture. I  was  terribly  afraid  that  he  was  go- 
ing to  say  something  hard  to  me,  but  his 
voice  only  expressed  a  sort  of  amused  pity. 

"  'The  money,  was  it,  Signorina?'  he  said. 
'Young  people  and  beautiful  people  should 
not  be  mercenary.  Poor  child,  you  had  bet- 
ter have  stood  by  me.' 

"I  answered  him  nothing,  but  went  out 
with  the  Colonel,  leaving  him  seated  again 
in  his  chair,  surveying  with  some  apparent 


TWO   SURPRISES.  129 

amusement  the  two  threatening  sentries 
who  stood  at  the  door.  The  Colonel  hurried 
me  out  of  the  house,  saying: 

"  'We  must  ride  to  the  barracks.  If  the 
news  gets  there  before  us,  they  may  cut  up 
rough.    You  go  home.    Your  work  is  done.' 

"So  they  mounted  and  rode  away,  leav- 
ing me  in  the  road.  There  were  no  sigii« 
of  any  struggle,  except  the  door  hanging 
loose  on  its  hinges,  and  a  drop  or  two  of 
blood  on  the  steps  where  thej^  had  shot  poor 
Johnny  Carr.  I  wont  straight  home,  and 
what  happened  in  the  next  few  hours  at  the 
Golden  House  I  don't  know,  and,  knowing 
how  I  left  the  President,  I  cannot  explain. 
I  went  home,  and  cried  till  I  thought  my 
heart  would  break." 

Thus  far  the  Signorina.  I  must  beg  to 
call  special  attention  to  the  closing  lines  of 
her  narrative.  But  before  I  relate  the  very 
startling  occurrence  to  which  she  refers,  we 
must  return  to  the  barracks,  where,  it  will 
be  remembered,  matters  were  in  a  rather 
critical  condition.  When  the  officers  saw 
their  mess-room  suddenly  filled  with  armed 
men,  and  heard  the  alarming  order  issued 


130    •  A    MAN   OP   MARK. 

by  the  Colonel,  their  attention  was  effectu- 
ally diverted  from  me.  They  crowded  to- 
gether on  one  side  of  the  table,  facing  the 
Colonel  and  his  men  on  the  other.  Assisted 
by  the  two  men  sent  to  my  aid,  I  seized  the 
opportunity  to  push  my  way  through  them 
and  range  myself  by  the  side  of  my  leader. 
After  a  moment's  pause  the  Colonel  began : 
"The  last  thing  we  should  desire,  gentle- 
men," he  said,  "is  to  resort  to  force.  But 
the  time  for  explanation  is  short.  The  peo- 
ple of  Aureataland  have  at  last  risen 
against  the  tyranny  they  have  so  long  en- 
dured. General  Whittingham  has  proved 
a  traitor  to  the  cause  of  freedom;  he  won 
his  position  in  the  name  of  liberty;  he  has 
used  it  to  destroy  liberty.  The  voice  of  the 
people  has  declared  him  to  have  forfeited 
his  high  office.  The  people  have  placed  in 
my  hand  the  sword  of  vengeance.  Armed 
with  this  mighty  sanction,  I  have  appealed 
to  the  army.  The  army  has  proved  true  to 
its  traditions — true  to  its  character  of  the 
protector,  not  the  oppressor,  of  the  people. 
Gentlemen,  will  you  who  lead  the  army  take 
your  proper  place?" 


TWO    SURPRISES.  131 

There  was  no  reply  to  this  moving  ap- 
peal. He  advanced  closer  to  them,  and 
went  on : 

"There  is  no  middle  way.  You  are  patriots 
or  traitors — friends  of  liberty  or  friends  of 
tyranny.  I  stand  here  to  offer  3'ou  either  a 
traitor's  death,  or,  if  you  will,  life,  honor 
and  the  satisfaction  of  all  your  just  claims. 
Do  you  mistrust  the  people?  I,  as  their 
representative,  here  offer  you  every  just  due 
the  people  owe  you — debts  which  had  long- 
been  paid  but  for  the  greed  of  that  great 
traitor." 

As  he  said  this  he  took  from  his  men  some 
bags  of  money,  and  threw  them  on  the  table 
with  a  loud  chink. 

Major  DeChair  glanced  at  the  bags,  and 
glanced  at  his  comrades,  and  said: 

"In  the  cause  of  liberty  God  forbid  we 
should  be  behind!  Down  with  the  tyrant!" 
And  all  the  pack  3'elped  in  chorus ! 

"Then,  gentlemen,  to  the  head  of  your 
men,"  said  the  Colonel,  and  going  to  the 
window,  he  cried  to  the  throng: 

"Men,  your  noble  officers  are  with  us." 

A  cheer  answered  him.  I  wiped  my  fore- 
head, and  said  to  myself,  "That's  well  over." 


132  A   MAN    OP    MARK. 

I  will  not  weary  the  reader  with  our 
further  proceedings.  Sufllce  it  to  say  we 
marshaled  our  host  and  marched  down  to 
the  Piazza.  The  news  had  spread  by  now, 
and  in  the  dimly-breaking  morning  light 
we  saw  the  v^quare  full  of  people — men, 
women  and  children.  As  we  marched  in 
there  was  a  cheer,  not  very  hearty — a 
cheer  propitiatory,  for  they  did  not  know 
what  we  meant  to  do.  The  Colonel  made 
them  a  brief  speech,  promising  peace,  se- 
curity, liberty,  plenty  and  all  the  goods  of 
heaven.  In  a  few  stern  words  he  cautioned 
them  against  "treachery,"  and  announced 
that  any  rebellion  against  the  Provisional 
Government  would  meet  with  swift  punish- 
ment. Then  he  posted  his  army  in  com- 
panies, to  keep  watch  till  all  was  quiet. 
And  at  last  he  said : 

"Novf,  Martin,  come  back  to  the  Golden 
House,  and  let's  put  that  fellow  in  a  safe 
place." 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "and  have  a  look  for  the 
money."  For  really  in  the  excitement  it 
seemed  as  if  there  was  a  danger  of  the  most 
important  thing  of  all  being  forgotten. 


TWO    SURPRISES.  133 

The  dawn  was  now  far  advanced,  and  as 
we  left  the  Piazza,  we  could  see  the  Golden 
House  at  the  other  end  of  the  avenue.  All 
looked  quiet,  and  the  sentries  were  gently 
pacing  to  and  fro.  Drawing  nearer,  we  saw 
two  or  three  of  the  President's  servants 
busied  about  their  ordinary  tasks.  One 
woman  was  already  deleting  Johnny  Carr's 
life-blood  with  a  mop  and  a  pail  of  water; 
and  a  carpenter  was  at  work  repairing  the 
front-door.  Standing  by  it  was  the  doctor's 
brougham. 

"Come  to  see  Carr,  I  suppose,"  said  I. 

Leaving  our  horses  to  the  care  of  the  men 
who  were  with  us,  we  entered  the  house. 
Just  inside  we  met  the  doctor  himself.  He 
was  a  shrewd  little  fellow,  named  Anderson, 
generally  popular  and,  though  a  personal 
friend  of  the  President's,  not  openly  identi- 
fied with  either  political  party. 

"I  have  a  request  to  make  to  you,  sir," 
he  said  to  McGregor,  "about  Mr.  Carr." 

"Well,  is  he  dead?"  said  the  Colonel.  "If 
he  is,  he's  got  only  himself  to  thank  for  it." 

The  doctor  wisely  declined  to  discuss 
this  question,  and  confined  himself  to  stat- 


134  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

ing  that  Johnny'  was  not  dead.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  was  goinc^  on  nicely. 

"But,"  he  went  on,  "quiet  is  essential,  and 
I  want  to  take  him  to  my  house,  out  of  the 
racket.  No  doubt  it  is  pretty  quiet  here 
now,  but — " 

The  Colonel  interrupted — 

"Will  he  give  his  [>arole  not  to  escape?" 

"My  dear  sir,"  said  the  doctor,  "the  man 
couldn't  move  to  save  his  life — and  he's 
asleep  now." 

"You  must  wake  him  up  to  move  him,  I 
suppose,"  said  the  Colonel.  "But  you  may 
take  him.  Let  me  know  when  he's  well 
enough  to  see  me.  Meanwhile,  I  hold  you 
responsible  for  his  good  behavior." 

"Certainly,"  said  the  doctor.  "I  am  con- 
tent to  be  responsible  for  Mr.  Carr." 

"All  right;  take  him  and  get  out.  Now 
for  Whittingham !" 

"Hadn't  we  better  get  the  money  first?" 
said  I. 

"Damn  the  money!"  he  replied.  "But  I 
tell  you  what — I  must  have  a  bit  of  food. 
I've  tasted  nothing  for  twelve  hours." 

One  of  the  servants,  hearing  him,  said: 


TWO    SURPRISES.  135 

"Breakfast  can  be  served  in  a  moment, 
sir."  And  he  ushered  us  into  the  large  din- 
ing-room, where  we  soon  had  an  excellent 
meal. 

When  we  had  got  through  most  of  it,  I 
broke  the  silence  by  asking: 

"AYhat  are  you  going  to  do  with  him?" 

"I  should  like  to  shoot  him,"  said  the 
Colonel. 

"On  what  charge?" 

"Treachery,"  he  replied. 

I  smiled. 

"That  would  hardly  do,  would  it?" 

"Well,  then,  embezzlement  of  public 
funds." 

W^e  had  a  little  talk  about  the  President's 
destiny,  and  I  tried  to  persuade  the  Colonel 
to  milder  measures.  In  fact,  I  was  de- 
termined to  prevent  such  a  murder  if  I 
could  without  ruin  to  myself. 

"Well,  we'll  consider  it  when  we've  seen 
him,"  said  the  Colonel,  rising  and  lighting 
a  cigarette.  "By  Jove!  we've  wasted  an 
hour  breakfasting — it's  seven  o'clock." 

I  followed  him  along  the  passage,  and 
we  entered  the  little  room  where  we  had 


l^ti  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

left  the  President.  The  sentries  were  still 
there,  each  seated  in  an  arm-chair.  They 
were  not  asleep,  but  looked  a  little  drowsy. 

"All  right?"  said  the  Colonel. 

"Yes,  Excellency,"  said  one  of  them.  "He 
is  in  there  in  bed." 

He  went  into  the  inner  room  and  beaan 
to  undo  the  shutters,  letting  in  the  early 
sun. 

We  passed  through  the  half-opened  door 
and  saw  a  peaceful  figure  lying  in  the  bed, 
whence  proceeded  a  gentle  snore. 

"Good  nerve,  hasn't  he?"  said  the  Colonel. 

"Yes;  but  what  a  queer  night-cap,"  I 
said,  for  the  President's  head  was  swathed 
in  white  linen. 

The  Colonel  strode  quickly  up  to  the  bed. 

"Done,  by  hell!"  he  cried.  It*s  Johnny 
Carr!" 

It  was  true ;  there  lay  Johnny.  His  Ex- 
cellency was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

The  Colonel  shook  Johnny  roujrhlv  by 
the  arm.  The  latter  opened  his  eyes  and 
said,  sleepily: 

"Steady  there!  Kindly  remember  I'm 
a  trifle  fragile," 


TWO    SURPRISES.  137 

"What's  this  infernal  plot?  Where's 
Whittingham?" 

"Ah,  it's  McGregor,"'  said  Johnny  with  a 
bland  smile,  "and  Martin.  How  are  you, 
old  fellow?  Some  beast's  hit  me  on  the 
head." 

"Where's  Whittingham?"  reiterated  the 
Colonel,  saragely  shaking  Johnny's  arm. 

"Gently!"  said  T;  "after  all,  he's  a  sick 
man." 

The  Colonel  dropped  the  arm  with  a  mut- 
tered oath,  and  Johnny  said  sweetly: 

"Quits,  isn't  it.  Colonel?" 

The  Colonel  turned  from  him,  and  said 
to  his  men  sternly: 

"Have  you  had  any  hand  in  this?" 

They  protested  vehemently  that  they 
were  as  astonished  as  we  were ;  and  so  they 
were, unless  they  acted  consummately.  They 
denied  that  any  one  had  entered  the  outer 
room  or  that  any  sound  had  proceeded  from 
the  inner.  They  swore  they  had  kept  vigi- 
lant watch,  and  must  have  seen  anv  in- 
truder.  Both  the  men  inside  were  the  Colo- 
nel's personal  servants,  and  he  believed  in 
their  honesty;  but  what  of  their  vigilance? 


.138  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

Carr  heard  him  sternly  questioning 
them,  and  said: 

"Those  chaps  aren't  to  blame,  Colonel.  I 
didn't  come  in  that  way.  If  you^ll  take  a 
look  behind  the  bed,  you'll  see  another  door. 
They  brought  me  in  there.  I  was  rather 
queer  and  only  half  knew  what  was  up." 

We  looked  and  saw  a  door  where  he  said. 
Pushing  the  bed  aside,  we  opened  it,  and 
found  ourselves  on  the  back  staircase  of  the 
premises.  Clearly  the  President  had  noise- 
lessly opened  this  door  and  got  out.  But 
how  had  Carr  got  in  Without  noise? 

The  sentry  came  up,  saying: 

"Every  five  minutes,  sir,  I  looked  and  saw 
him  on  the  bed.  He  lay  for  the  first  hour 
in  his  clothes.  The  next  look,  he  was  un- 
dressed. It  struck  me  he'd  been  pretty  quick 
and  quiet  about  it,  but  I  thought  no  more." 

"Depend  upon  it,  the  dressed  man  was 
the  President,  the  undressed  man  Carr! 
When  was  that?" 

"About  half -past  two,  sir;  just  after  the 
doctor  came."   . 

"The  doctor!"  we  cried. 

"Yes,  sir;  Dr.  Anderson." 


TWO    SURPRISES.  139 

"You  never  told  me  he  had  been  here." 
"He  never  went  into  the  President's — 
into  General  Whittingham's  room,  sir;  but 
he  came  in  here  for  five  minutes,  to  get  some 
brandy,  and  stood  talking  with  us  for  a 
time.  Half-an-hour  after,  he  came  in  for 
some  more," 

We  began  to  see  how  it  was  done.  That 
wretched  little  doctor  was  in  the  plot. 
Somehow  or  other  he  had  communicated 
with  the  President;  probably  he  knew  of  the 
door.  Then,  I  fancied,  they  must  have 
worked  something  in  this  way.  The  doctor 
comes  in  to  distract  the  sentries,  while  his 
Excellency  moves  the  bed.  Finding  that 
they  took  a  look  every  five  minutes,  he  told 
the  President.  Then  he  went  and  got 
Johnny  Carr  ready.  Returning,  he  takes 
the  President's  place  on  the  bed,  and  in  that 
character  undergoes  an  inspection.  The 
moment  this  is  over  he  leaps  up  and  goes 
out.  Between  them  they  bring  in  Carr,  put 
him  into  bed,  and  slip  out  through  the  nar- 
row space  of  open  door  behind  the  bedstead. 
When  all  was  done,  the  doctor  had  come 
back  to  see  if  any  suspicion  had  been 
aroused. 


140  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

"I  havo  it  now!"  cried  the  Colonel. 
"That  infernal  doctoi*'s  done  us  both.  He 
couldn't  get  Whittingham  out  of  the  house 
without  leave,  so  he's  taken  him  as  Carr! 
Swindled  me  into  giving  m^'  leave!  Ah, 
look  out  if  we  meet,  Mr.  Doctor!" 

We  rushed  out  of  the  house  and  found 
this  conjecture  was  true.  The  man  who 
purported  to  be  Carr  had  been  carried  out, 
enveloped  in  blankets,  just  as  we  sat  down 
to  breakfast;  the  doctor  had  put  him  into 
the  carriage,  followed  himself,  and  driven 
rapidly  away. 

"Which  way  did  they  go?" 

"Toward  the  harbor,  sir,"  the  sentry  re- 
plied. 

The  harbor  could  be  reached  in  twenty 
minutes'  fast  driving.  Without  a  word  the 
Colonel  sprang  on  his  horse;  I  imitated  him, 
and  we  galloped  as  hard  as  we  could,  every 
one  making  way  before  our  furious  charge. 
Alas !  we  were  too  late.  As  we  drew  jrein  on 
the  quay  we  saw,  half-a-mile  out  to  sea  and 
sailing  before  a  stiff  breeze,  Johnny  Carr's 
little  yacht,  with  the  Aureataland  flag 
floating  defiantly  at  her  mast-head. 


TWO    SURPRISES.  141 

We  gazed  at  it  blankly,  with  never  a  word 
to  say,  and  turned  our  horses'  heads.  Our 
attention  was  attracted  by  a  small  group 
of  men  standing  round  the  storm-signal 
post.  As  we  rode  up,  they  hastily  scat- 
tered, and  we  saw  pinned  to  the  post  a  sheet 
of  note-paper.  Thereon  was  written  in  a 
well-known  hand: — 

"I,  Marcus  W.  Whittingham,  President 
of  the  Republic  of  Aureataland,  hereby  offer 
a  reward  of  Five  Thousand  Dollars  and  a 
Free  Pardon  to  any  person  or  persons  as- 
sisting in  the  Capture,  Alive  or  Dead,  of 
George  McGregor  (late  Colonel  in  the 
Aureataland  Army)  and  John  Martin,  Bank 
Manager,  and  I  do  further  proclaim  the  said 
George  McGregor  and  John  Martin  to  be 
traitors  and  rebels  against  the  Republic, 
and  do  pronounce  their  lives  forfeited. 
Which  sentence  let  every  loyal  citizen  ob- 
serve at  his  peril. 

"Marcus  W.  Whittingham, 

"President." 

Truly  this  was  pleasant! 


CHAPTER  XI. 

DIVIDING   THE   SPOILS. 

The  habit  of  reading  having  penetrated, 
as  we  are  told,  to  all  classes  of  the  com- 
munity, I  am  not  without  hope  that  some 
who  peruse  this  chronicle  will  be  able,  from 
personal  experience,  to  understand  the  feel- 
ings of  a  man  when  he  first  finds  a  reward 
offered  for  his  apprehension.  It  is  true  that 
our  police  are  not  in  the  habit  of  imitating 
the  President's  naked  brutality  by  ex- 
pressly  adding  "Alive  or  Dead,"  but  I  am 
informed  that  the  law,  in  case  of  need, 
leaves  the  alternative  open  to  the  servants 
of  justice.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  confess  that 
my  spirits  were  rather  dashed  by  his  Excel- 
lency's Parthian  shot,  and  I  could  see  that 
the  Colonel  himself  was  no  less  perturbed. 
The  escape  of  Fleance  seemed  to  Macbeth 
to  render  his  whole  position  unsafe,  and  no 
one  who  knew  General  Whittingham  will 
doubt  that  he  was  a  more  generous  oppo- 

142 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS.        143 

nent  than  Fleance.  We  both  felt,  in  fact,  as 
soon  as  we  saw  the  white  sail  of  "The  Song- 
stress" bearing  our  enemy  out  of  our  reach, 
that  the  revolution  could  not  yet  be  re- 
garded as  safely  accomplished.  But  the  un- 
certainty of  our  tenure  of  power  did  not 
paralyze  our  energies;  on  the  contrary,  we 
determined  to  make  hay  while  the  sun 
shone,  and,  if  Aureataland  was  doomed  to 
succumb  once  more  to  tyranny,  I,  for  one, 
was  very  clear  that  her  temporary  emanci- 
pation might  be  turned  to  good  account 

Accordingly,  on  arriving  again  at  the 
Golden  House,  we  lost  no  time  in  institut- 
ing a  thorough  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the 
public  finances.  We  ransacked  the  house 
from  top  to  bottom  and  found  nothing!  Was 
it  possible  that  the  President  had  carried 
off  with  him  all  the  treasure  that  had  in- 
spired our  patriotic  efforts?  The  thought 
was  too  horrible.  The  drawers  of  his  escri- 
toire and  the  safe  that  stood  in  his  library 
revealed  nothing  to  our  eager  eyes.  A  for- 
aging party,  dispatched  to  the  Ministry  of 
Finance  (where,  by  the  way,  they  did  not 
find  Don  Antonio  or  his  fair  daughter),  re- 

lO 


144  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

turned  witli  the  discouraging  news  that 
nothing'  was  visible  but  ledgers  and  bills 
(not  negotiable  securities — the  other  sort). 
In  deep  dejection  I  threw  myself  into  his 
Excellency's  chair  and  lit  one  of  his  praise- 
worthy cigars  with  the  doleful  rellection 
that  this  pleasure  seemed  all  I  was  likely  to 
get  out  of  the  business.  The  Colonel  stood 
moodil^^  with  his  back  to  the  fireplace,  look- 
ing at  me  as  if  I  were  responsible  for  the 
state  of  things. 

At  this  point  in  came  the  Signorina.  We 
greeted  her  gloomily,  and  she  was  as 
startled  as  ourselves  at  the  news  of  the 
President's  escape;  at  the  same  time  1 
thought  I  detected  an  undercurrent  of  re- 
lief, not  unnatural  if  we  recollect  her  per- 
sonal relations  with  the  deposed  ruler. 
When,  however,  we  went  on  to  break  to  her 
the  nakedness  of  the  land,  she  stopped  us 
at  once. 

"Oh,  you  stupid  men,  you  haven't  looked 
in  the  right  place.  I  suppose  you  expected 
to  find  it  laid  out  for  you  on  the  dining- 
room  table.     Come  with  me." 

We  followed   her  into  the  room   where 


DIVIDING    THE   SPOILS.  145 

Carr  lay.  He  was  awake,  and  the  Signo- 
rina  went  and  asked  him  how  he  was.  Then 
she  continued: 

"We  shall  have  to  disturb  you  for  a  few 
minutes,  Mr.  Carr.  You  don't  mind,  do 
you?" 

"Must  I  get  out  of  bed?"  asked  Johnny. 

"Certainly  not,  while  I'm  here,"  said  the 
Signorina.  "You've  only  got  to  shut  your 
eyes  and  lie  still;  but  we're  going  to  make 
a  little  noise." 

There  was  in  the  room,  as  perhaps  might 
be  expected,  a  washing-stand.  This  article 
was  of  the  description  one  often  sees ;  above 
the  level  of  the  stand  itself  there  rose  a 
wooden  screen  to  the  height  of  two  feet  and 
a  half,  covered  with  pretty  tiles,  the  presum- 
able object  being  to  protect  the  wall  paper. 
I  never  saw  a  more  innocent-looking  bit  of 
furniture;  it  might  have  stood  in  a  lady's 
dressing-room.  The  Signorina  went  up  to  it 
and  slid  it  gently  on  one  side;  it  moved  in 
a  groove!  Then  she  pressed  a  spot  in  the 
wall  behind  and  a  small  piece  of  it  rolled 
aside,  disclosing  a  keyhole. 

"lie's  taken  the  key,  of  course,'*  she  said. 


146  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

"We  must  break  it  open.  Who's  got  a  ham- 
mer?" 

Tools  were  procured,  and,  working  under 
the  Signorina's  directions,  after  a  good  deal 
of  trouble,  we  laid  bare  a  neat  little  safe 
embedded  in  the  wall.  This  safe  was  legi- 
bly inscribed  on  the  outside  "Burglar's 
Puzzle."  We,  however,  were  not  afraid  of 
making  a  noise,  and  it  only  puzzled  us  for 
ten  minutes. 

When  opened  it  revealed  a  Golconda! 
There  lay  in  securities  and  cash  no  less  than 
500,000  dollars! 

We  smiled  at  one  another. 

"A  sad  revelation,"  I  remarked. 

"Hoary  old  fox !"  said  the  Colonel. 

No  wonder  the  harbor  works  were  un- 
remunerative  in  their  early  stages.  The 
President  must  have  kept  them  at  a  very 
early  stage. 

"What  are  you  people  up  to?"  cried  Carr. 

"Rank  burglary,  my  dear  boy,"  I  replied, 
and  we  retreated  with  our  spoil. 

"Now,'*  said  I  to  the  Colonel,  "what  are 
you  going  to  do?" 

"Why,  what  do  you  think,  Mr.  Martin?'- 


DIVIDING   THE   SPOILS.  147 

interposed  the  Signorina.  "He's  going  to 
give  you  your  money,  and  divide  the  rest 
with  his  sincere  friend  Christina  Nugent." 

"Well,  I  suppose  so,"  said  the  Colonel. 
"But  it  strikes  me  you're  making  a  good 
thing  of  this,  Martin." 

"My  dear  Colonel,"  said  I,  "a  bargain  is 
a  bargain,  and  where  would  you  have  been 
without  my  money?" 

The  Colonel  made  no  reply,  but  handed 
me  the  money,  which  I  liked  much  better.  I 
took  the  320,000  dollars,  and  said: 

"Now,  I  can  face  the  world,  an  honest 
man." 

The  Signorina  laughed. 

"I  am  glad,"  she  said,  "chiefly  for  poor 
old  Jones'  sake.  It'll  take  a  load  off  his 
mind." 

The  Colonel  proceeded  to  divide  the  re- 
mainder into  two  little  heaps,  one  of  which 
he  pushed  over  to  the  Signorina.  She 
took  it  gaily,  saying: 

"Now  I  shall  make  curl  papers  of  half 
my  bonds,  and  I  shall  rely  on  the — what  do 
you  call  it? — the  Provisional  Government 
to  pay  the  rest.  You  remember  about  the 
house?" 


148  A   MAN    OF    MARK. 

"I'll  see  about  that  soon,"  said  the  Colonel 
impatiently.  "You  two  seem  to  think 
there's  nothing  to  do  but  take  the  money. 
You  forget  we've  got  to  make  our  position 
safe." 

"Exactly.  The  Colonel's  Government 
must  be  carried  on,"  said  I. 

The  Signorina  did  not  catch  the  allusion. 
She  yawned,  and  said: 

"Oh,  then,  I  shall  go.  Rely  on  my  loyalty, 
your  Excellency." 

She  made  him  a  courtesy  and  went  to  the 
door.  As  I  opened  it  for  her  she  whispered, 
"Horrid  old  bear!  Come  and  see  me,  Jack," 
and  so  vanished,  carrying  off  her  dollars. 

I  returned  and  sat  down  opposite  the 
Colonel. 

"I  wonder  how  she  knew  about  the  wash- 
ing-stand," I  remarked. 

"Because  Whittingham  was  fool  enough 
to  tell  her,  I  suppose,"  said  the  Colonel  test- 
ily, as  if  he  disliked  the  subject. 

Then  we  settled  to  business.  This  unam- 
bitious tale  does  not  profess  to  be  a  com- 
plete history  of  Aureataland,  and  I  will 
spare  my  readers  the  recital  of  our  discus- 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS.        149 

sion.  We  decided  at  last  that  matters  were 
still  so  critical,  owing  to  the  President's 
escape,  that  the  ordinary  forms  of  law  and 
Constitutional  Government  must  be  tempo- 
rarily suspended.  The  chamber  was  not  in 
Session,  which  made  this  course  easier.  The 
Colonel  was  to  be  proclaimed  President  and 
to  assume  supreme  power  under  martial 
law  for  some  weeks,  while  we  looked  about 
us.  It  was  thought  better  that  my  name 
should  not  appear  officially,  but  I  agreed 
to  take  in  hand,  under  his  supervision,  all 
matters  relating  to  finance. 

"We  can't  pay  the  interest  on  the  real 
debt,"  he  said. 

"No,"  I  replied ;  "you  must  issue  a  notice, 
setting  forth  that,  owing  to  General  Whit- 
tingham's  malversations,  payments  must 
be  temporarily  suspended.  Promise  it  will 
be  all  right  later  on." 

"Very  good,"  said  he;  "and  now  I  shall 
go  and  look  up  those  officers.  I  must  keep 
them  in  good  temper,  and  the  men  too.  I 
shall  give  'em  another  ten  thousand." 

"Generous  hero!"  said  I,  "and  I  shall  go 
and  restore  this  cash  to  my  employers." 


15fr  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

It  was  twelve  o'clock  when  I  left  the 
Golden  House  and  strolled  quietly  down  to 
Liberty  Street.  The  larger  part  of  the  sol- 
diers had  been  drawn  off,  but  a  couple  of 
companies  still  kept  guard  in  the  Piazza. 
The  usual  occupations  of  life  were  going  on 
amid  a  confused  stir  of  excitement,  and  I 
saw  by  the  interest  my  appearance  aroused 
that  some  part  at  least  of  my  share  in  the 
night's  doing  had  leaked  out.  The  Gazette 
had  published  a  special  edition,  in  which  it 
hailed  the  advent  of  freedom,  and,  while 
lauding  McGregor  to  the  skies,  bestowed  a 
warm  commendation  on  the  "noble  English' 
man  who,  with  a  native  love  of  liberty,  had 
taken  on  himself  the  burden  of  Aureataland 
in  her  hour  of  travail."  The  metaphor 
struck  me  as  inappropriate,  but  the  senti- 
ment was  most  healthy;  and  when  I  finally 
beheld  two  officers  of  police  sitting  on  the 
head  of  a  drunken  man  for  toasting  the  fall- 
ing  regime,  I  could  say  to  myself,  as  I  turned 
into  the  bank,  "Order  reigns  in  Warsaw." 

General  assent  had  proclaimed  a  suspen- 
sion of  commerce  on  this  auspicious  day, 
an(I  I  found  Jones  sitting  idle  and  ill  at 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS.        151 

ease.  I  explained  to  him  the  state  of  af- 
fairs, showing  how  the  President's  dishon- 
orable scheme  had  compelled  me,  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  bank,  to  take  a  more  or  less 
active  part  in  the  revolution.  It  was 
pathetic  to  hear  him  bewail  the  villainy  of 
the  man  he  had  trusted,  and  when  I  pro- 
duced the  money,  he  blessed  me  fervently, 
and  at  once  proposed  writing  to  the  Direct- 
ors a  full  account  of  the  matter. 

"They  are  bound  to  vote  you  an  hono- 
rarium, sir,"  he  said. 

"I  don't  know,  Jones,"  I  replied.  "I  am 
afraid  there  is  a  certain  prejudice  against 
me  at  headquarters.  But  in  any  case  I 
have  resolved  to  forego  the  personal  advan- 
tage that  might  accrue  to  me  from  my  con- 
duct. President  McGregor  has  made  a 
strong  representation  to  me  that  the 
schemes  of  General  Whittingham,  if  pub- 
licly known,  would,  however  unjustly,  prej- 
udice the  credit  of  Aureataland,  and  he  ap- 
pealed to  me  not  to  give  particulars  to  the 
world.  In  matters  such  as  these,  Jones,  we 
cannot  be  guided  solely  by  selfish  consider- 
atioDK." 


152  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

"God  forbid,  sir!"  said  Jones,  much 
moved. 

"I  have,  therefore,  consented  to  restrict 
myself  to  a  confidential  communication  to 
the  Directors;  they  must  judge  how  far 
they  will  pass  it  on  to  the  shareholders.  To 
the  world  at  large  I  shall  say  nothing  of  the 
second  loan ;  and  I  know  you  will  oblige  me 
by  treating  this  money  as  the  product  of 
realizations  in  the  ordinary  course  of  busi- 
ness. The  recent  disturbances  will  quite  ac- 
count for  so  large  a  sum  being  called  in." 

"I  don't  quite  see  how  I  can  arrange 
that." 

"Ah,  you  are  overdone,"  said  I.  "Leave 
it  all  to  me,  Jones." 

And  this  1  persuaded  him  to  do.  In  fact, 
he  was  so  relieved  at  seeing  the  money  back 
that  he  was  easy  to  deal  with;  and  if  he 
suspected  anything,  he  was  overawed  by 
my  present  exalted  position.  He  appeared 
to  forget  what  I  could  not,  that  the  Presi- 
deat,  no  doubt,  still  possessed  that  fatal 
cable ! 

After  lunch  I  remembered  my  engage- 
ment with  the  Signorina,  and,  putting  on 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS.        153 

my  hat,  was  bidding  farewell  to  business, 
when  Jones  said: 

"There's  a  note  just  come  for  you,  sir.  A 
little  boy  brought  it  w^hile  you  were  out  at 
lunch." 

He  gave  it  me — a  little  dirty  envelope, 
with  an  illiterate  scrawl.  I  opened  it  care- 
lessly, but  as  my  eye  fell  on  the  President's 
hand,  I  started  in  amazement.  The  note 
was  dated  "Saturday — .  From  on  board 
'The  Songstress,'"  and  ran  as  follows: 

"Dear  Mr.  Martin — I  must  confess  to  hav- 
ing underrated  your  courage  and  abilities. 
If  you  care  to  put  them  at  my  disposal  now, 
I  will  accept  them.  In  the  other  event,  I 
must  refer  you  to  my  public  announcement. 
In  any  case  it  may  be  useful  to  you  to  know 
that  McGregor  designs  to  maiTy  Signorina 
Nugent.  I  fear  that  on  my  return  it  will 
be  hardly  consistent  with  my  public  duties 
to  spare  your  life  (unless  you  accept  my 
present  offer),  but  I  shall  always  look  back 
to  your  acquaintance  with  pleasure.  T 
have,  if  you  will  allow  me  to  say  so,  seldom 
met  a  young  man  with  such  natural  gifts 


154  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

for  finance  and  politics.  I  shall  anchor  five 
miles  out  from  Whittingham  to-ni^ht  (for 
I  know  you  have  no  ships),  and  if  you  join 
me,  well  and  good.  If  not,  I  shall  consider 
your  decision  irrevocable. — Believe  me, 
dear  Mr.  Martin,  faithfully  yours, 

"Marcus  W.  Whittiugham, 
"President  of  the  Republic 

"of  Aureataland." 

It  is  a  pleasant  thing,  as  has  been  re- 
marked, laudari  a  laudato  viro,  and  the  Pres- 
ident's praise  was  grateful  to  me.  But  I  did 
not  see  my  way  to  fall  in  with  his  views. 
He  said  nothing  about  the  money,  but  I 
knew  well  that  its  return  would  be  a  con- 
dition of  any  alliance  between  us.  Again, 
I  was  sure  that  he  also  "designed  to  marry 
the  Signorina,"  and,  if  I  must  have  a  rival 
on  the  spot,  I  preferred  McGregor  in  that 
capacity.  Lastly,  I  thought  that  after  all 
there  is  a  decency  in  things,  and  I  had  bet- 
ter stick  to  my  party.  I  did  not,  however, 
tell  McGregor  about  the  letter,  merely  send- 
ing him  a  line  to  say  I  had  heard  that  "The 
Songstress"  was  hovering  a  few  miles  off, 
and  he  had  better  look  out 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS.         155 

This  done,  I  resumed  my  interrupted 
progress  to  tlie  Signorina's.  Wtien  I  was 
shown  in,  she  greeted  me  kindly. 

"I  have  had  a  letter  from  the  President," 
I  said. 

"Yes,"  said  she,  "he  told  me  he  had  writ- 
ten to  you." 

"Why,  have  you  heard  from  him?" 

"Yes,  just  a  little  note.  He  is  rather  cross 
with  me." 

"I  can  quite  understand  that.  Would 
you  like  to  see  my  letter?" 

"Oh,  yes,"  she  replied  carelessly. 

She  read  it  through  and  asked: 

^'Well,  are  you  going  over  to  him — going 
to  forsake  me?" 

"How  can  you  ask  me?  Won't  you  show 
me  your  letter,  Christina?" 

"No,  John,"  she  answered,  mimicking  my 
impassioned  tones.  "I  may  steal  the  Presi- 
dent's savings,  but  I  respect  his  confidence.'^ 

"You  see  what  he  says  to  me  about 
McGregor  ?'- 

"Yes,"  said  the  Signorina.  "It  is  not,  you 
know,  news  to  me.  But,  curious  to  relate, 
the  Colonel  has  just  been  here  himself  and 


166  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

told  me  the  same  thing.  The  Colonel  has 
not  a  nice  way  of  making  love,  Jack — not 
so  nice  as  yours  nearly." 

Thus  encouraged  I  went  and  sat  down  by 
her.    I  believe  I  took  her  hand. 

"You  don't  love  him?" 

"Not  at  all,"  she  replied. 

I  must  beg  to  be  excused  recording  the 
exact  terms  in  which  I  placed  my  hand  and 
heart  at  the  Signorina's  disposal.  I  was  ex- 
tremely vehement  and  highly  absurd,  but 
she  did  not  appear  to  be  displeased. 

"I  like  you  very  much,  Jack,"  she  said, 
"and  it's  very  sweet  of  you  to  have  made  a 
revolution  for  me.     It  was  for  me.  Jack?" 

"Of  course  it  was,  my  darling,"  I 
promptly  replied. 

"But  you  know,  Jack,  I  don't  see  how 
we're  much  better  off.  Indeed,  in  a  way  it's 
worse.  The  President  wouldn't  let  anybody 
else  marry  me,  but  he  wasn't  so  peremp- 
tory as  the  Colonel.  The  Colonel  declares 
he  will  marry  me  this  day  week !" 

"We'll  see  about  that,"  said  I  savagely. 

"Another  revolution.  Jack?"  asked  the 
Signorina. 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS.        157 

"You  needn't  laugh  at  me,"  I  said  sulkily. 

"Poor  boy!  What  are  we  idyllic  lovers 
to  do?" 

"I  don't  believe  vou're  a  bit  in  earnest." 

"Yes,  I  am.  Jack — now."  Then  she  went 
on,  with  a  sort  of  playful  pity,  "Look  at  my 
savage,  jealous,  broken-hearted  Jack." 

I  caught  her  in  my  arms  and  kissed  her, 
whispering  hotly: 

"You  will  be  true  to  me,  sweet?" 

"Let  me  go,"  she  said.  Then,  leaning  over 
me  as  I  flung  myself  back  in  a  chair,  "It's 
pleasant  while  it  lavSts ;  try  not  to  be  broken- 
hearted if  it  doesn't  last." 

"If  you  love  me,  why  don't  you  come  with 
me  out  of  this  sink  of  iniquity?" 

"Run  away  with  you?"  she  asked  with 
open  amazement.  "Do  you  think  that  we're 
the  sort  of  people  for  a  romantic  elopement? 
I  am  very  earthy.  And  so  are  you.  Jack 
dear,  nice  earth,  but  earth.  Jack." 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  this 
remark.  We  were  not  an  ideal  pair  for  love 
in  a  cottage. 

"Yes,"  I  said.     "I've  got  no  money." 

"I've  got  a  little  money,  but  not  much. 
I've  been  paying  debts,"  she  added  proudly. 


158  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

"I  haven't  been  even  doing  that.  And 
I'm  not  quite  equal  to  purloining  that 
300,000  dollars." 

"We  must  wait,  Jack.  But  this  I  will 
promise.  I'll  never  marry  the  Colonel.  If 
it  comes  to  that  or  running  away,  we'll  run 
away." 

"And  Whittingham?" 

Tlie  Signorina  for  once  looked  gTave. 

"You  know  him,"  she  said.  "Think  what 
he  made  you  do!  and  you're  not  a  weak 
man,  or  I  shouldn't  be  fond  of  you.  Jack, 
you  must  keep  him  away  from  me." 

She  was  quite  agitated;  and  it  was  one 
more  tribute  to  the  President's  powers  that 
he  should  exert  so  strange  an  influence  over 
such  a  nature.  I  was  burning  to  ask  her 
more  about  herself  and  the  President,  but 
I  could  not  while  she  was  distressed.  And 
when  I  had  comforted  her,  she  resolutely 
declined  to  return  to  the  subject. 

"No,  go  away  now,"  she  said.  "Think 
how  we  are  to  checkmate  our  two  Presi- 
dents. And,  Jack,  whatever  happens,  I  got 
you  back  the  money.  I've  done  you  some 
good.    So  be  kind  to  me.    I'm  not  very  much 


DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS.         159 

afraid  of  jour  heart  breaking.  In  fact, 
Jack,  we  are  neither  of  us  good  young  peo- 
ple. ^NTo,  no,  be  quiet  and  go  away.  You 
have  plenty  of  useful  things  to  occupy  your 
time." 

At  last  I  accepted  my  dismissal,  and 
walked  off,  my  happiness  considerably 
damped  by  the  awkward  predicament  in 
which  we  stood.  Clearly  McGregor  meant 
business;  and  at  this  moment  McGregor 
was  all  powerful.  If  he  kept  the  reins,  I 
should  lose  mv  love.  If  the  President  came 
back,  a  worse  fate  still  threatened.  Sup- 
posing it  were  possible  to  carry  off  the  Sig- 
norina,  which  I  doubted  very  much,  where 
were  we  to  go  to?    And  would  she  come? 

On  the  whole,  I  did  not  think  she  would 
come. 


11 


CHAPTER  XII. 

BETWEEN   TWO   FIRES. 

In  spite  of  my  many  anxieties,  after  this 
eventful  day  I  enjoyed  the  first  decent 
night's  rest  I  had  had  for  a  week.  The  Colo- 
nel refused,  with  an  unnecessary  ostenta- 
tion of  scorn,  my  patriotic  offer  to  keep 
watch  and  ward  over  the  city,  and  I  turned 
in,  tired  out,  at  eleven  o'clock,  after  a  light 
dinner  and  a  meditative  pipe.  I  felt  I  had 
some  reasons  for  self-congratulation;  for 
considerable  as  my  present  difficulties  were, 
yet  I  undoubtedly  stood  in  a  more  hopeful 
position  than  I  had  before  the  revolution. 
I  was  now  resolved  to  get  my  money  safe 
out  of  the  country,  and  I  had  hopes  of  being 
too  much  for  McGregor  in  the  other  matter 
which  shared  my  thoughts. 

The  return  of  day,  however,  brought  new 
troubles.  I  was  roused  at  an  early  hour 
by  a  visit  from  the  Colonel  himself.     He 

160 


BETWEEN    TWO   FIRES.  161 

brought  very  disquieting  tidiugs.  In  the 
course  of  the  night  every  one  of  our  procla- 
mations had  been  torn  down  ordefacedwith 
ribald  scribblings;  posted  over  or  along- 
side them,  there  now  hung  multitudinous 
enlarged  copies  of  the  President's  offensive 
notice.  How  or  by  whom  tliese  seditious 
measures  had  been  effected  we  were  at  a 
loss  to  tell,  for  the  officers  and  troops  were 
loud  in  declaring  their  vigilance.  In  the 
very  center  of  the  Piazza,  on  the  base  of  the 
President's  statue,  was  posted  an  enormous 
bill,  "Remember  1871!   Death  to  Traitors!" 

"How  could  they  do  that  unless  the  sol- 
diers were  in  it?"  asked  the  Colonel  gloom- 
ily. "I  have  sent  those  two  companies  back 
to  barracks  and  had  another  lot  out.  But 
how  do  I  know  they'll  be  any  better?  I  met 
DeChair  just  now  and  asked  him  what  the 
temper  of  the  troops  was.  The  little  brute 
gr-inned,  and  said:  'Ah,  mon  President,  it 
would  be  better  if  the  good  soldiers  had  a 
leetle  more  money.' " 

"That's  about  it,"  said  I;  "but  then  you 
haven't  got  much  more  money." 

"What  I've  got  I  mean  to  stick  to,"  said 


162  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

the  Colonel.  "If  this  thinj^  is  going  to  burst 
up,  I'm  not  going  to  be  kicked  out  to  starve. 
I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Martin,  you  must  let 
me  have  some  of  that  cash  back  again." 

The  elfrontery  of  this  request  amazed  me. 
I  was  just  drawing  on  the  second  leg  of  my 
trousers  (for  it  was  impossible  to  be  com- 
fortable in  bed  with  that  great  creature 
fuming  about),  and  I  stopped  with  one  leg 
in  mid-air  and  gazed  at  him. 

"Well,  what's  the  matter?  Why  are  you 
to  dance  out  with  all  the  plunder?"  he 
asked. 

The  man's  want  of  ordinary  morality 
was  too  revolting.  Didn't  he  know  very 
well  that  the  money  wasn't  mine?  Didn't 
he  himself  obtain  my  help  on  the  express 
terms  that  I  should  have  this  money  to  re- 
pay the  bank  with?  I  finished  putting  on 
my  garments,  and  then  I  replied: 

"Not  a  farthing.  Colonel;  not  a  damned 
farthing!  By  our  agreement  that  cash  was 
to  be  mine;  but  for  that  I  wouldn't  have 
touched  your  revolution  with  a  pair  of 
tongs." 


BETWEEN   TWO    FIRES.  163 

He  looked  very  savage,  and  muttered 
something  under  his  breath. 

"You're  carrying  things  with  a  high 
hand,"  he  said. 

"I'm  not  going  to  steal  to  please  you," 
said  I. 

"You  weren't  always  so  scrupulous,"  he 
sneered. 

I  took  no  notice  of  this  insult,  but  re- 
peated my  determination. 

"Look  here,  Martin,"  he  said,  "I'll  give 
you  twenty-four  hours  to  think  it  over;  and 
let  me  advise  you  to  change  your  mind  by 
then.  I  don't  want  to  quarrel,  but  I'm  going 
to  have  some  of  that  money." 

Clearly  he  had  learnt  statecraft  in  his 
predecessor's  school!  "Twenty-four  hours 
is  something,"  thought  I,  and  determined 
to  try  the  cunning  of  the  serpent, 

"All  right.  Colonel,"  I  said,  "I'll  think  it 
over.  I  don't  pretend  to  like  it;  but,  after 
all,  I'm  in  with  you  and  we  must  pull  to- 
gether. We'll  see  how  things  look  to-mor- 
row morning." 

"There^s  another  matter  I  wanted  to 
speak  to  you  about,"  he  went  on. 


164  A   MAN    OF    MARK. 

I  was  now  dressed,  so  I  invited  him  into 
the  breakfast-room,  gave  him  a  cup  of  coffee 
(which,  to  my  credit,  I  didn't  poison),  and 
began  on  my  own  eggs  and  toast. 

"Fire  away,"  said  I  briefly. 

"I  suppose  you  know  I'm  going  to  be 
married  ?"  he  remarked. 

"No,  I  hadn't  heard,"  I  replied,  feigning 
to  be  entirely  occupied  with  a  very  nimble 
egg.  "Rather  a  busy  time  for  marrying, 
isn't  it?    Who  is  she?" 

He  gave  a  heavy  laugh. 

"You  needn't  pretend  to  be  so  very  in- 
nocent; I  expect  you  could  give  a  pretty 
good  guess." 

"Madame  Devarges?"  I  asked  blandly. 
"Suitable  match;  about  your  age — " 

"I  wish  the  devil  you  wouldn't  try  to  be 
funny!"  he  exclaimed.  "You  know  as  well 
as  I  do  it's  the  Signorina." 

"Really?"  I  replied.  "Well,  well,I  fancied 
you  were  a  little  touched  in  that  quarter. 
And  she  has  consented  to  make  you 
happy?" 

I  was  curious  to  see  what  he  would  say. 
I  knew  he  was  a  bad  liar,  and,  as  a  fact, 


BETWEEN    TWO    FIRES.  165 

I  believe  he  told  the  truth  on  this  occasion, 
for  he  answered: 

"Says  she  never  cared  a  straw  for  any 
one  else." 

Oh,  Signorina! 

"Not  even  Whittingham?"  I  asked  mali- 
ciously. 

"Hates  the  old  ruffian !"  said  the  Colonel. 
"I  once  thought  she  had  a  liking  for  you, 
Martin,  but  she  laughed  at  the  idea.  I'm 
glad  of  it,  for  we  should  have  fallen  out." 

I  smiled  in  a  somewhat  sickly  way,  and 
took  refuge  in  my  cup.  When  I  emerged, 
I  asked: 

"And  when  is  it  to  be?" 

"Next  Saturdav." 

"So  soon?" 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "Fact  is,  between  you 
and  me,  Martin,  she's  ready  enough." 

This  was  too  disgusting.  But  whether 
the  Colonel  was  deceiving  me,  or  the  Sig- 
norina had  deceived  him,  I  didn't  know — 
a  little  bit  of  both  probably.  I  saw,  how- 
ever, what  the  Colonel's  game  was  plainly 
«^nough;  he  was,  in  his  clumsy  way,  warn- 
ing me  off  his  preserves,  for,  of  course,  he 


166  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

knew  my  pretensions  and  probably  that 
they  had  met  with  some  success,  and  I 
don't  think  T  imposed  on  him  very  much. 
But  I  was  anxious  to  avoid  a  rupture  and 
gain  time. 

"I  must  call  and  congratulate  the  lady," 
I  said. 

The  Colonel  couldn't  very  well  object  to 
that,  but  he  didn't  like  it. 

"Well,  Christina  told  me  she  was  very 
busy,  but  I  daresay  she'll  see  you  for  a 
few  minutes." 

"I  dare  say  she  will,"  I  said  drily. 

"I  must  be  off  now.  1  shall  have  to  be 
about  all  day  trying  to  catch  those  infernal 
fellows  who  destroved  the  bills." 

"You  won't  be  doing  any  business  to- 
day, then?" 

"What,  about  settling  the  Government?" 
he  asked,  grinning.  "Not  just  yet.  Wait 
till  I've  got  the  Signorina  and  the  money, 
and  then  we'll  see  about  that.  You  think 
about  the  money,  my  boy!" 

Much  to  my  relief  he  then  departed  and 
as  he  went  out  I  swore  that  neither  Signo- 
rina nor  money  should  he  ever  have.    In  the 


BETWEEN   TWO   FIRES.  167 

course  of  the  next  twenty-four  hours  I  must 
find  a  way  to  prevent  him. 

"Rather  early  for  a  call,"  said  I,  "but  1 
must  see  the  Signorina." 

On  my  way  up  I  met  several  people,  and 
heard  some  interesting  facts.  In  the  first 
place,  no  trace  had  appeared  of  Don 
Antonio  and  his  daughter;  rumor  declared 
that  they  had  embarked  on  "The  Song- 
stress" with  the  President  and  his  faithful 
doctor.  Secondly,  Johnny  Carr  was  still  in 
bed  at  the  Golden  House  (this  from 
Madame  Devarges,  vrho  had  been  to  see 
him);  but  his  men  had  disappeared,  after 
solemnly  taking  the  oath  to  the  new  Gov- 
ernment. Item  three.  The  Colonel  had 
been  received  with  silence  and  black  looks 
by  the  troops,  and  two  officers  had  vanished 
into  space,  both  Americans,  and  the  only 
men  of  any  good  in  a  fight.  Things  were 
looking  rather  blue,  and  I  began  to  think 
that  I  also  should  like  to  disappear,  pro- 
vided I  could  carry  ofi'  my  money  and  my 
mistress  with  me.  My  scruples  about  loy- 
alty had  been  removed  by  the  Colonel's  over- 
bearing conduct,  and  I  was  ready  for  any 


168  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

step  that  promised  me  the  f ultillment  of  mj 
ovvu  designs.  It  was  pretty  evident  that 
there  would  be  no  living  with  McGregor  in 
his  present  frame  of  mind,  and  1  was  con- 
vinced that  my  best  course  would  be  to  cut 
the  whole  thing,  or,  if  that  proved  impos- 
sible, to  see  what  bargain  I  could  make 
with  the  President.  Of  course  all  would 
go  smoothly  with  him  if  I  gave  up  the  dol- 
lars and  the  lady ;  a  like  sacrifice  would  con- 
ciliate McGregor.  But  then  I  didn't  mean 
to  make  it. 

"One  or  other  1  will  have,"  said  I,  as  I 
knocked  at  the  door  of  "Mon  Repos,"  "and 
both  if  possible." 

The  Signorina  was  looking  worried;  in- 
deed, I  thought  she  had  been  crying. 

"Did  you  meet  my  aunt  on  your  way  up?"* 
she  asked,  the  moment  1  was  announced. 

"No,"  said  I. 

"I've  sent  her  away,"  she  continued.  "All 
this  fuss  frightens  her,  so  I  got  the  Colonel's 
leave  (for  you  know  we  mustn't  move  with- 
out permission  now  liberty  has  triumphed) 
for  her  to  seek  change  of  air." 

"Where's  she  going  to?"  I  said. 


BETWEEN    TWO    FIRES.  169 

"Home,"  said  the  Signorina. 

I  didn't  know  where  "home"  was,  but  I 
never  ask  what  I  am  not  meant  to  know. 

"Are  you  left  alone?" 

"Yes.  I  know  it's  not  correct.  But  you 
see,  Jack,  I  had  to  choose  between  care  for 
my  money  and  care  for  my  reputation.  The 
latter  is  always  safe  in  my  own  keeping; 
the  former  I  wasn't  so  sure  about." 

"Oh,  so  you've  given  it  to  Mrs.  Carring- 
ton?" 

"Yes,  all  but  five  thousand  dollars." 

"Does  the  Colonel  know  that?" 

"Dear  me,  of  course  not,  or  he'd  never 
have  let  her  go." 

"You're  very  wise,"  said  I.  "I  only  wish 
I  could  have  sent  my  money  with  her." 

"I'm  afraid  that  would  have  made  dear 
aunt  rather  bulky,"  said  the  Signorina  tit- 
tering. 

"Yes,  such  a  lot  of  mine's  in  cash,"  I  said 
regretfully.  "But  won't  they  find  it  on 
her?" 

"Not  if  they're  gentlemen,"  replied  the 
Signorina,  darkly. 

Evidently  T  coukl  not  ask  for  further  de- 


170  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

tails;  so,  without  more  ado,  I  disclosed  my 
own  perilous  condition  and  the  Colonel's 
boasts  about  herself. 

"What  a  villain  that  man  is!"  she  ex- 
claimed. 'Of  course  I  was  civil  to  him, 
but  I  didn't  say  half  that.  You  didn't  be- 
lieve I  did.  Jack?" 

There's  never  any  use  in  being  un- 
pleasant, so  I  said  I  had  rejected  the  idea 
with  scorn. 

"But  what's  to  be  done?  If  I'm  here  to- 
morrow, he'll  take  the  money,  and,  as  likely 
as  not,  cut  my  throat  if  I  try  to  stop  him," 

"Yes,  and  he'll  marry  me,"  chimed  in  the 
Signorina.  "Jack,  we  must  have  a  counter- 
revolution." 

"I  don't  see  what  good  that'll  do,"  I  an- 
swered dolefully.  "The  President  will  take 
the  monej'  just  the  same,  and  I  expect  he'll 
marry  you  just  the  same." 

"Of  the  two,  I  would  rather  have  him. 
Now  don't  rage.  Jack!  I  only  said,  ^of  the 
two.'  But  you're  quite  right;  it  couldn't 
help  us  much  to  bring  General  Whitting- 
ham  back." 


BETWEEN   TWO   FIRES.  171 

"To  sa}'  nothing  of  the  strong  probability 
of  my  perishing  in  the  attempt." 

"Let  me  think,"  said  the  Signorina,  knit- 
ting her  brows. 

"May  I  light  a  cigarette  and  help  you?" 

She  nodded  permission,  and  I  awaited 
the  result  of  her  meditation. 

She  sat  there,  looking  very  thoughtful 
and  troubled,  but  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  she 
were  rather  undergoing  a  conflict  of  feel- 
ing than  thinking  out  a  course  of  action. 
Once  she  glanced  at  me,  then  turned  away 
with  a  restless  movement  and  a  sigh. 

I  finished  my  cigarette,  and  flinging  it 
away,  strolled  up  to  the  window  to  look  out. 
I  had  stood  there  a  little  while,  when  I 
heard  her  call  softlj': 

"Jack!" 

I  turned  and  came  to  her,  kneeling  down 
by  her  side  and  taking  her  hands. 

She  gazed  rather  intently  into  my  face 
with  unusual  gravity.    Then  she  said: 

"If  you  have  to  choose  between  me  and  the 
money,  which  will  it 'be?" 

I  kissed  her  hand  for  answer. 

"If  the  money  is  lost,  won't  it  all  come 


172  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

out?  And  then  won't  they  call  you  dis- 
honest?" 

"I  suppose  so,"  said  I. 

"You  don't  mind  that?" 

"Yes,  I  do.  Nobody  likes  being  called  a 
thief — especially  when  there's  a  kind  of 
truth  about  it.  But  I  should  mind  losing 
you  more.'' 

"Are  you  really  very  fond  of  me.  Jack? 
No,  you  needn't  say  so.  I  think  you  are. 
Now  I'll  tell  you  a  secret.  If  you  hadn't 
come  here,  I  should  have  married  General 
Whittingham  long  ago.  I  stayed  here  in- 
tending to  do  it  (oh,  yes,  I'm  not  a  nice  girl. 
Jack),  and  he  asked  me  very  soon  after  you 
hrst  arrived.  I  gave  him  my  money,  you 
know,  then.''' 

I  was  listening  intently.  It  seemed  as  if 
some  things  were  going  to  be  cleared  up. 

"Well,"  she  continued,  "you  know  what 
happened.  You  fell  in  love  with  me,  I  tried 
to  make  you,  and  then  I  suppose  I  fell  a 
little  in  love  with  you.  At  any  rate  I  told 
the  President  I  wouldn't  marry  him  just 
then.  Some  time  after,  I  wanted  some 
money,  and  I  asked  him  to  give  me  back 


BETWEEN   TWO   FIRES.  173 

mine.  He  utterly  refused ;  you  know  his  quiet 
way.  He  said  he  would  keep  it  for  'Mrs. 
Whittingham.'  Oh,  I  could  have  killed 
him!  But  I  didn't  dare  to  break  with  him 
openly;  besides,  he's  very  hard  to  fight 
against.  We  had  constant  disputes;  he 
would  never  give  back  the  money,  and  I  de- 
clared I  wouldn't  marry  him  unless  I  had 
it  first,  and  not  then  unless  I  chose.  He 
was  very  angry  and  swore  I  should  marry 
him  without  a  penny  of  it;  and  so  it  went 
on.  But  he  never  suspected  you.  Jack,  not 
till  quite  the  end.  Then  we  found  out  about 
the  debt,  you  know;  and  about  the  same 
time  I  saw  he  at  last  suspected  something 
between  you  and  me.  And  the  very  day 
before  we  came  to  the  bank  he  drove  me  to 
desperation.  He  stood  beside  me  in  this 
room,  and  said,  'Christina,  I  am  growing 
old.  I  shall  wait  no  longer.  I  believe  you're 
in  love  with  that  young  Martin.'  Then  he 
apologized  for  his  plain  speaking,  for  he's 
always  gentle  in  manner.  And  I  defied  him. 
And  then,  Jack,  what  do  you  think  he  did?" 

I  sprang  up  in  a  fury. 

"What?"  I  cried. 


174  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

"He  laughed!"  said  the  Signorina,  with 
tragic  intensity.  "I  couldn't  stand  that.  So 
1  joined  the  Colonel  in  upsetting  him.  Ah, 
he  shouldn't  have  laughed  at  me!" 

And  indeed  she  looked  at  this  moment  a 
dangerous  subject  for  such  treatment. 

"I  knew  what  no  one  else  knew,  and  I 
could  influence  him  as  no  one  else  could, 
and  I  had  my  revenge.  But  now,"  she  said, 
"it  all  ends  in  nothing." 

And  she  broke  down,  sobbing. 

Then,  recovering  herself,  and  motioning 
me  to  be  still,  she  went  on: 

"You  may  think,  after  holding  him  at  bay 
so  long,  I  have  little  to  fear  from  the  Colo- 
nel. But  it's  different.  The  President  has 
no  scruples;  but  he  is  a  gentleman — as  far 
as  women  are  concerned.  I  mean — he 
wouldn't — " 

She  stopped. 

"But  McGregor?"  I  asked,  in  a  hoarse 
whisper. 

She  drooped  her  head  on  my  shoulder. 

"I  daren't  stay  here,  Jack,  with  him,"  she 
whispered.  "If  you  can't  take  me  away,  I 
must  go  to  the  President.  I  shall  be  at  least 
safe  with  him!" 


BETWEEN   TWO   FIRES.  175 

"Damn  the  ruffian!"  I  growled  —  not 
meaning  the  President,  but  his  successor, 
"Fll  shoot  him!" 

"No,  no,  Jack!"  she  cried.  "You  must  be 
quiet  and  cautious.  But  I  must  go  to-night 
— to-night.  Jack,  either  with  you  or  to  the 
President." 

"My  darling,  you  shall  come  with  me," 
said  I. 

"Where?" 

"Oh,  out  of  this  somewhere." 

"How  are  we  to  escape?" 

"Now,  you  sit  down,  dear,  and  try  to  stop 
crying — you  break  my  heart — and  I'll 
think.    It's  my  turn  now." 

I  carried  her  to  the  sofa,  and  she  lay 
still,  but  with  her  eyes  fixed  on  me.  I  was 
full  of  rage  against  McGregor,  but  I 
couldn't  afford  the  luxury  of  indulging  it, 
so  I  gave  my  whole  mind  to  finding  a  way 
out  for  us.  At  last  I  seemed  to  hit  upon  a 
plan. 

The  Signorina  saw  the  inspiration  in  my 
eye.     She  jumped  up  and  came  to  me. 

"Have  you  got  it.  Jack?"  she  said. 

"I  think  so — if  you  will  trust  yourself  to 

12 


176  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

rae,  aud  don't  mind  an  imcomiortable 
night." 

"Go  on." 

"You  know  mv  little  steam  launch?  It 
will  be  dark  to-night.  If  we  can  get  on 
board  with  a  couple  of  hours'  start  we  can 
show  anybodj'  a  clean  pair  of  heels.  She 
travels  a  good  pace,  and  it's  only  fifty  miles 
to  safety  and  foreign  soil.  I  shall  la  nd  there 
a  beggar!" 

"I  don't  mind  that,  Jack,"  she  said.  "I 
have  my  five  thousand,  and  aunt  will  join 
us  with  the  rest.  But  how  are  we  to  get 
on  board?  Besides,  oh,  Jack!  the  Presi- 
dent watches  the  coast  every  night  with 
*The  Songstress'' — and  you  know  she's  got 
steam — Mr.  Carr  just  had  auxiliary  steam 
put  in." 

"No,"  I  said,  "I  didn'^  know  about  that. 
Look  here,  Christina,  excuse  the  question, 
but  can  you  communicate  with  the  Presi- 
dent?" 

"Yes,"  she  said,  after  a  second's  hesita- 
tion. 

This  was  what  I  suspected. 

"Aud  will  he  believe  what  vou  tell  him?" 


BETWEEN   TWO   FIRES.  177 

"I  don't  know.  He  might  and  he  might 
not.    He'll  probably  act  as  if  he  didn't." 

I  appreciated  the  justice  of  this  forecast 
of  General  Whittingham's  measures. 

"Well,  we  must  chance  it,"  I  said.  "At 
any  rate,  better  be  caught  by  him  than  stay 
here.  We  were,  perhaps,  a  little  hasty  with 
that  revolution  of  ours." 

"I  never  thought  the  Colonel  was  so 
wicked,"  said  the  Signorina. 

We  had  no  time  to  waste  in  abusing  our 
enemy ;  the  question  was  how  to  outwit  him. 
I  unfolded  my  plan  to  the  Signorina,  not  at 
all  disguising  from  her  the  difficulties,  and 
even  dangers,  attendant  upon  it.  W^hat- 
ever  may  have  been  her  mind  before  and 
after,  she  was  at  this  moment  either  so  over- 
come with  her  fear  of  the  Colonel,  or  so  car- 
ried away  by  her  feeling  for  me,  that  she 
made  nothing  of  difficulties  and  laughed  at 
dangers,  pointing  out  that  though  failure 
would  be  ignominious,  it  could  not  substan- 
tially aggravate  our  present  position. 
Whereas  if  we  succeeded — ! 

The  thought  of  success  raised  a  prospect 
of    bliss    in    which  we  reveled  for  a  few 


178  A   MAN    OF   MARK. 

minutes;  then,  warned  by  the    stroke    of 
twelve,  we  returned  to  business. 

"Are  you  going  to  take  any  of  the 
money  away  with  you?"  she  asked. 

"No,"  said  I,  "I  don't  think  so.  It  would 
considerably  increase  the  risk  if  I  were 
seen  hanging  about  the  bank;  you  know 
he's  got  spies  all  over  the  place.  Besides, 
what  good  would  it  do?  I  couldn't  stick 
to  it,  and  I'm  not  inclined  to  run  any  more 
risks  merely  to  save  the  bank's  pocket.  The 
bank  hasn't  treated  me  so  well  as  all  that.  I 
propose  to  rely  on  your  bounty  till  I've  time 
to  turn  round." 

"Now,  shall  I  come  for  you?"  I  asked 
her  when  we  had  arranged  the  other  de- 
tails. 

"I  think  not,"  she  said.  "I  believe  the 
Colonel  has  one  of  my  servants  in  his  pay. 
I  can  slip  out  by  myself,  but  I  couldn't  man- 
age so  well  if  you  were  with  me.  The  sight 
of  you  would  excite  curiosity.  I  will  meet 
you  at  the  bottom  of  Liberty  Street." 

"At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  exactly, 
please.  Don't  come  through  the  Piazza 
and    Liberty    Street.    Come  round  by  the 


BETWEEN    TWO   FIRES.  179 

drive."  (This  was  a  sort  of  boulevard  en- 
circling the  town,  where  the  aristocracy 
was  wont  to  ride  and  drive.)  "Things  ought 
to  be  pretty  busy  about  the  bank  by  then, 
and  no  one  will  notice  vou.  You  have  a 
revolver?" 

"Yes." 

"All  right.  Don't  hurt  any  one  if  you 
can  help  it;  but  if  you  do,  don't  leave  him 
to  linger  in  agony.  Now  I'm  off,"  I  con- 
tinued. "I  suppose  I'^d  better  not  come  and 
see  you  again?" 

"I'm  afraid  you  mustn't.  Jack.  You've 
been  here  two  hours  already." 

"I  shall  be  in  my  rooms  in  the  after- 
noon. If  anything  goes  wrong,  send  your 
carriage  down  the  street  and  have  it 
stopped  at  the  grocer's.  I  shall  take  that 
for  a  sign." 

The  Signorina  agreed,  and  we  parted 
tenderly.     My  last  words  were: 

"You'll  send  that  message  to  Whitting- 
ham  at  once?" 

"This  moment,"'  she  said,  as  she  waved 
me  a  kiss  from  the  door  of  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

I  WORK  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE. 

I  was  evidently  in  for  another  day  as  un- 
pleasantly exciting  as  the  one  I  had  spent 
before  the  revolution,  and  I  reflected  sadly 
that  if  a  man  once  goes  in  for  things  of  that 
kind,  it's  none  so  easy  to  pull  up.  Luckily, 
however,  I  had  several  things  to  occupy  me, 
and  was  not  left  to  fret  the  da^^  away  in 
idleness.  First  I  turned  my  steps  to  the 
harbor.  As  I  went  I  examined  my  pockets 
and  found  a  sum  total  of  nine  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  This  was  my  all,  for  of  late  I 
had  deemed  it  wise  to  carry  my  fortune  on 
my  person.  Well,  this  was  enough  for  the 
present;  the  future  must  take  care  of  it- 
self. So  I  thought  to  myself  as  I  went  along 
with  a  light  heart,  my  triumph  in  love 
easily  outweighing  all  the  troubles  and 
dangers  that  beset  me.    Only  land  me  safe 

180 


I  WORK  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE.  181 

out  of  Aureataland  with  the  Signorina  by 
m}'  side,  and  I  asked  nothing  more  of  for- 
tune! Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead,  and 
the  bank  look  after  its  dollars! 

Thus  musing,  I  came  to  the  boat-house 
where  my  launch  lay.  She  was  a  tidy  little 
boat,  and  had  the  advantage  of  being  work- 
able by  one  man  without  any  difficulty.  All 
I  had  to  arrange  was  how  to  embark  on  her 
unperceived.  I  summoned  the  boatman  in 
charge,  and  questioned  him  closely  about 
the  probable  state  of  the  VN^eather.  He  con- 
fidently assured  me  it  would  be  fine  but 
dark. 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  "I  shall  go  fishing; 
start  overnight,  and  have  a  shy  at  them  at 
sunrise." 

The  man  was  rather  astonished  at  my 
unwonted  energy,  but  of  course  made  no 
objection. 

"What  time  shall  vou  start,  sir?"  he 
asked. 

"I  want  her  readv  bv  two  "  said  I. 

"Do  you  want  me  to  go  with  you,  sir?" 

I  pretended  to  consider,  and  then  told 


182  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

him,  to  his  obvious  relief,  that  I  could  dis- 
pense with  his  services. 

"Leave  her  at  the  end  of  your  jetty,"  I 
said,  "ready  for  me.  She'll  be  all  safe 
there,  won't  she?" 

"Oh,  yes,  sir.  Nobody'll  be  about,  except 
the  sentries,  and  they  won't  touch  her." 

I  privately  hoped  that  not  even  the  sen- 
tries would  be  about,  but  I  didn't  say  so. 

"Of  course,  sir,  I  shall  lock  the  gate. 
You've  got  your  key?" 

"Yes,  all  right,  and  here  you  are — and 
much  obliged  for  your  trouble." 

Highly  astonished  and  grateful  at  re- 
ceiving a  large  tip  for  no  obvious  reason 
(rather  a  mistake  on  my  part),  the  man  was 
profuse  in  promising  to  make  every  arrange- 
ment for  my  comfort.  Even  when  I  asked 
for  a  few  cushions,  he  dissembled  his  scorn 
and  agreed  to  put  them  in. 

"And  mind  you  don't  sit  up,"  I  said  as  I 
left  him. 

"I'm  not  likely  to  sit  up  if  I'm  not 
obliged,'"  he  answered.  "Hope  you'll  have 
good  sport,  sir." 

From  the  harbor  I  made  my  way  straight 


I  WORK  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE.  183 

to  the  Golden  House.  The  Colonel  was 
rather  surprised  to  see  me  again  so  soon, 
but  when  I  told  him  I  came  on  business,  he 
put  his  occupations  on  one  side  and  listened 
to  me. 

I  began  with  some  anxiety,  for  if  he  sus- 
I^ected  my  good  faith  all  would  be  lost. 
However,  I  was  always  a  good  hand  at  a 
lie,  and  the  Colonel  was  not  the  President. 

"Pve  come  about  that  money  question," 
I  said. 

"Well,  have  you  come  to  your  senses?'' 
he  asked,  with  his  habitual  rudeness. 

"I  can't  give  you  the  money,"  I  went  on. 

"The  devil  you  can't!"  he  broke  in.  "You 
sit  there  and  tell  me  that?  Do  you  know 
that  if  the  soldiers  don't  have  money  in  a 
few  hours,  they'll  upset  me?  They're  ready 
to  do  it  any  minute.  By  JoveJ  I  don't  know 
now  when  I  give  an  order  whether  I  shall 
be  obeyed  or  get  a  bullet  through  my  head." 

"Prav  be  calm,"  said  I.  "You  didn't  let 
me  finish!" 

"Let  you  finish!"  he  cried.  "You  seem  to 
think  jabber  does  everything.  The  end  of 
H  all  is,  that  either  you  give  me  the  money. 


184  A    MAN    OF   MARK. 

or  I  take  it — and  if  you  interfere,  look  out!" 

"That  was  just  wliat  I  was  going  to  pro- 
pose, if  you  hadn't  interrupted  me,"  I  said 
quietly,  but  with  inward  exultation,  for  I 
saw  he  was  just  in  the  state  of  mind  to  walk 
eagerly  into  the  trap  I  was  preparing  for 
him. 

"TV^hat  do  you  mean?"  he  asked. 

I  explained  to  him  that  it  was  impossible 
for  me  to  give  up  the  money.  My  reputa- 
tion was  at  stake;  it  was  my  duty  to  die  in 
defense  of  that  money — a  duty  which,  I 
hastened  to  add,  I  entertained  no  intention 
of  performing. 

"But,"  I  went  on,  "although  I  am  bound 
not  to  surrender  the  money,  I  am  not  bound 
to  anticipate  a  forcible  seizure  of  it.  In 
times  of  disturbance  parties  of  ruffians 
often  turn  to  plunder.  Not  even  the  most 
rigorous  precautions  can  guard  against  it. 
Now  it  would  be  very  possible  that  even  to- 
night a  band  of  such  marauders  might  make 
an  attack  on  the  bank,  and  carry  off  all  the 
money  in  the  safe." 

"Oh!"  said  the  Colonel,  "that's  the  game, 
is  it?" 


I  WORK  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE.  185 

"That,"  I  replied,  "is  the  game;  and  a  very 
neat  game  too,  if  you'll  play  it  properly." 

"And  what  will  they  say  in  Europe,  when 
they  hear  the  Provisional  Government  is 
looting  private  property?" 

"My  dear  Colonel,  you  force  me  to  much 
explanation.  You  will,  of  course,  not  ap- 
pear in  the  matter." 

"I  should  like  to  be  there,"  he  remarked. 
"If  I  weren't,  the  men  mightn't  catch  the 
exact  drift  of  the  thing." 

"You  will  be  there,  of  course,  but  incog- 
nito. Look  here,  Colonel,  it's  as  plain  as 
two  peas.  Give  out  that  you're  going  to 
reconnoiter  the  coast  and  keep  an  eye  on 
'The  Songstress.'  Draw  off  your  com- 
panies from  the  Piazza  on  that  pretense. 
Then  take  fifteen  or  twenty  men  you  can 
trust — not  more,  for  it's  no  use  taking  more 
than  you  can  help,  and  resistance  is  out  of 
the  question.  About  two,  when  everything 
is  quiet,  suiTound  the  bank.  Jones  will  open 
when  you  knock.  Don't  hurt  him,  but  take 
him  outside  and  keep  him  quiet.  Go  in  and 
take  the  money.  Here's  the  key  of  the  safe. 
Then,  if  you  like,  set  fire  to  the  place." 


186  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

"Bravo,  my  boy!"  said  the  Colonel. 
"There's  stuff  in  yon  after  all.  Upon  my 
word,  I  was  afraid  yon  were  going  to  turn 
virtuous." 

I  laughed  as  wickedly  as  I  could. 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  get  out  of 
it?"  he  said.  "I  suppose  that's  coming- 
next?" 

As  the  reader  knows,  I  wasn't  going  to 
get  anything  out  of  it,  except  myself  and 
the  Signorina.  But  it  wouldn't  do  to  tell 
the  Colonel  that;  he  would  not  believe  in 
disinterested  conduct.  So  I  bargained  with 
him  for  a  douceur  of  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
which  he  promised  so  readily  that  I 
strongly  doubted  whether  he  ever  meant  to 
pay  it. 

"Do  you  think  there's  any  danger  of 
Whittingham  making  an  attack  while  we're 
engaged  on  the  job?" 

The  Colonel  was,  in  common  parlance  get- 
ting rather  warmer  than  I  liked.  It  was 
necessary  to  mislead  him. 

"I  don't  think  so,"  I  replied.  "He  can't 
possibly  have  organized  much  of  a  party 


I  WORK  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE.  187 

here  yet.  There's  some  discontent,  no  doubt, 
but  not  enough  for  him  to  rely  on." 

"There's  plenty  of  discontent,"  said  the 
Colonel. 

"There  won't  be  in  a  couple  of  hours." 

"Why  not?" 

"Why,  because  you're  going  down  to  the 
barracks  to  announce  a  fresh  installment  of 
pay  to  the  troops  to-morrow  morning — a 
handsome  installment." 

"Yes,"  said  he  thoughtfully,  "that  ought 
to  keep  them  quiet  for  one  night.  Fact  is, 
they  don't  care  twopence  either  for  me  or 
Whittingham;  and  if  they  think  they'll 
get  more  out  of  me  they'll  stick  to  me." 

Of  course  I  assented.  Indeed,  it  was  true 
enough  as  long  as  the  President  was  not  on 
the  spot;  but  I  thought  ijrivately,  that  the 
Colonel  did  not  allow  enough  for  his  rival's 
personal  influence  and  prestige,  if  he  once 
got  face  to  face  with  the  troops. 

"Yes,"  the  Colonel  went  on,  "I'll  do  that, 
and  what's  more,  I'll  put  the  people  in  good 
humor  by  sending  down  orders  for  free 
drink  in  the  Piazza  to-night." 

"Delightfully    old-fasliioued    and    baro- 


188  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

Dial,"  I  remarked.  "I  think  it's  a  good  idea. 
Have  a  bonfire  and  make  it  complete.  I 
don't  suppose  Whittingham  dreams  of  any 
attempt,  but  it  will  make  the  riot  even  more 
plausible." 

"At  any  rate,  they'll  all  be  too  drunk  to 
make  trouble,"  said  he. 

"Well,  that's  about  all,  isn't  it?"  said  I. 
"I  shall  be  off.  I've  got  to  write  to  my  Di- 
rectors and  ask  instructions  for  the  invest- 
ment of  the  money." 

"You'll  live  to  be  hanged,  Martin,"  said 
the  Colonel,  with  evident  admiration. 

"Not  by  you,  eh.  Colonel?  Whatever 
might  have  happened  if  I'd  been  obstinate! 
Hope  I  shall  survive  to  dance  at  your  wed- 
ding, anyhow.    Less  than  a  week  now!" 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "it's  Sunday  (though,  by 
Jove,  I'd  forgotten  it),  and  next  Saturday's 
the  day!" 

He  really  looked  quite  the  happy  bride- 
groom as  he  said  this,  and  I  left  him  to  con- 
template his  bliss. 

"I  would  bet  ten  to  one  that  day  never 
comes,"  I  thought,  as  I  walked  away.  "Even 


I  WORK  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE.  189 

if  I  don't  win  I'll  back  the  President  to  be 
back  before  that." 

The  Colonel's  greed  had  triumphed  over 
his  wits,  and  he  had  fallen  into  my  snare 
with  greater  readiness  than  I  could  have 
hoped.  The  question  remained,  What 
would  the  President  do  when  he  got  the 
Signorina's  letter?  It  may  conduce  to  a 
better  understanding  of  the  position  if  I 
tell  what  the  letter  was.  She  gave  it  me 
to  read  over,  after  we  had  compiled  it  to- 
gether, and  I  still  have  my  copy.  It  ran  as 
follows : 

"I  can  hardly  hope  you  will  trust  me 
again,  but  if  I  betrayed  you,  you  drove  me 
to  it,  I  have  given  them  your  money;  it  is 
in  the  bank  now.  M.  refuses  to  give  it  up, 
and  the  C.  means  to  take  it  to-night.  He 
will  have  only  a  few  men,  the  rest  not  near. 
He  will  be  at  the  bank  at  two,  with  about 
twenty  men.  Take  your  own  measures.  All 
here  favor  you.  He  threatens  me  with  vio- 
lence unless  I  marry  him  at  once.  He 
watches  'The  Songstress,'  but  if  you  can 
leave  her  at  anchor  and  land  in  a  boat  there 


190  A   MAN    OF    MARK. 

will  be  no  suspicion,  I  swear  this  is  true; 
do  not  punish  me  more  by  disbelieving  me. 
I  make  no  protest  But  if  you  come  back  to 
me  I  will  give  you,  in  return  for  pardon, 
anything  you  ask! 

"Christina. 
"P.  S. — M.  and  the  C.  are  on  bad  terms, 
and  M.  will  not  be  active  against  you." 

Upon  the  whole  I  thought  this  would 
bring  him.  I  doubted  whether  he  would 
believe  very  much  in  it,  but  it  looked  prob- 
able (indeed,  it  was  word  for  word  true, 
as  far  as  it  went),  and  held  out  a  bait  that 
he  would  find  it  hard  to  resist.  Again,  he 
was  so  fond  of  a  bold  stroke,  and  so  devoid 
of  fear,  that  it  was  very  likely  he  would 
come  and  see  if  it  were  true.  If,  as  we 
suspected,  he  already  had  a  considerable 
body  of  adherents  on  shore,  he  could  land 
and  reconnoiter  without  very  great  danger 
of  falling  into  the  Colonel's  hands.  Finally, 
even  if  he  didn't  come,  we  hoped  the  letter 
would  be  enough  to  divert  his  attention 
from  any  thought  of  fugitive  boats  and 
runaway  lovers.     I  could  have  made    the 


I  WORK  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE.  191 

terms  of  it  eyen  more  alluring,  but  the 
Signorina,  with  that  extraordinarily  dis- 
torted morality  distinctiye  of  her  sex,  re- 
fused to  swear  to  anything  literally  untrue 

in  a  letter  which  was  itself  from  beginning 
to  end  a  monumental  falsehood;  though 
not  a  student  of  ethics,  she  was  keenly 
alive  to  the  distinction  between  the  ex- 
pressio  falsi  and  the  suppressio  veri.  The 
only  passage  she  doubted  about  was  the  last 
— "If  you  come  back  to  me."  "But  then  he 
won't  come  back  to  me  if  I'm  not  there  I" 
she  exclaimed,  triumphantly.  What  hap- 
pened to  him  after  he  landed — whether  he 
cooked  the  Colonel's  goose  or  the  Colonel 
cooked  his — I  really  could  not  afford  to  con- 
sider. As  a  matter  of  personal  preference, 
I  should  have  liked  the  former,  but  I  did  not 
allow  any  such  considerations  to  influence 
my  conduct  My  only  hope  was  that  the 
killing  would  take  long  enough  to  leave 
time  for  our  unobtrusive  exit  At  the  same 
time,  as  a  matter  of  betting,  I  would  have 
laid  long  odds  against  McGregor. 

To  ray  mind  it  is  nearly  as  difficult  to  be 
consistently  selfish  as  to  be  absolutely  uu- 

13 


192  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

selfish.  I  had,  at  this  crisis,  every  induce- 
ment to  concentrate  all  my  efforts  on  my- 
self, but  I  could  not  get  Jones  out  of  my 
head.  It  was  certainly  improbable  that 
Jones  would  try  to  resist  the  marauding 
party;  but  neither  the  Colonel  nor  his 
chosen  band  was  likely  to  be  scrupulous, 
and  it  was  impossible  not  to  see  that  Jones 
might  get  a  bullet  through  his  head;  in- 
deed, I  fancied  such  a  step  would  rather 
commend  itself  to  the  Colonel,  as  giving  a 
bona  fide  look  to  the  affair.  Jones  had 
often  been  a  cause  of  great  inconvenience 
to  me,  but  I  didn't  wish  to  have  his  death 
on  my  conscience,  so  I  was  very  glad  when 
I  happened  to  meet  him  on  my  way  back 
from  the  Golden  House,  and  seized  the 
opportunity  of  giving  him  a  friendly  hint. 

I  took  him  and  sat  him  down  beside  me 
on  a  bench  in  the  Piazza.  I  was  in  no 
way  disturbed  by  the  curious  glances  of 
three  soldiers  who  were  evidently  charged 
to  keep  an  eye  on  the  bank  and  my  dealings 
with  it. 

I  began  by  pledging  Jones  to  absolute 
secrecy,  and  then  I  intimated  to  him,  in  a 


1  WORK.  UPON  HUMAN  NATURE.  19S 

roundabout  way,  that  the  Colonel  and  I 
were  both  very  apprehensive  of  an  attack 
on  the  bank. 

"The  town/-  I  said,  "is  in  a  most  un- 
settled condition,  and  many  dangerous 
characters  are  about.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances I  have  felt  compelled  to  leave 
the  defense  of  our  property  in  the  hands  of 
the  Government.  I  have  formally  intimated 
to  the  authorities  that  we  shall  hold  them 
responsible  for  any  loss  occasioned  to  us  by 
public  disorder.  The  Colonel,  in  the  name 
of  the  Government,  has  accepted  that  re- 
sponsibility. I  therefore  desire  to  tell  you, 
Mr.  Jones,  that  in  the  lamentable  event  of 
any  attack  on  the  bank  it  will  not  be  ex- 
pected of  you  to  exi)ose  your  life  by  resist- 
ance. Such  sacrifice  would  be  both  uncalled 
for  and  useless;  and  I  must  instruct  you  that 
the  Government  insists  that  their  measures 
shall  not  be  put  in  danger  of  frustration  by 
any  rash  conduct  on  our  part.  I  am  unable 
to  be  at  the  bank  this  evening;  but  in  the 
event  of  any  trouble  you  will  oblige  me  by 
not  attempting  to  meet  force  by  force.  You 
will  vield,  and  we  shall  relv  on  our  remedv 
against  the  Government  in  case  of  loss." 


194  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

These  instructions  so  fully  agreed  with 
the  natural  bent  of  Jones'  mind  that  he  read- 
ily acquiesced  in  them  and  expressed  high 
appreciation  of  my  foresight. 

"Take  care  of  yourself  and  Mrs.  Jones,  my 
dear  fellow,"  I  concluded;  "that  is  all  you 
have  to  do,  and  I  shall  be  satisfied." 

I  parted  from  him  affectionately,  wonder- 
ing if  my  path  in  life  would  ever  cross  the 
honest,  stupid  old  fellow's  again,  and  heart- 
ily hoping  that  his  fortune  would  soon  take 
him  out  of  the  rogue^s  nest  in  which  he  had 
been  dwelling. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FAREWELL  TO  AUREATALAND. 

The  night  came  on,  fair  and  still,  clear 
and  star-lit;  but  there  was  no  moon  and, 
outside  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
main  streets,  the  darkness  was  enough  to 
favor  our  hope  of  escaping  notice,  without 
being  so  intense  as  to  embarrass  our  foot- 
steps. Everything,  in  fact,  seemed  to  be  on 
our  side,  and  I  was  full  of  buoyant  confi- 
dence as  I  drank  a  last  solitary  glass  to  the 
success  of  our  enterprise,  put  my  revolver 
in  my  pocket,  and,  on  the  stroke  of  mid- 
night, stole  from  my  lodgings.  I  looked  up 
toward  the  bank  and  dimly  descried  three 
or  four  motionless  figures,  whom  I  took  to 
be  sentries  guarding  the  treasure.  The 
street  itself  was  almost  deserted,  but  from 
where  I  stood  I  could  see  the  Piazza 
crowded  with  a  throng  of  people  whose 
shouts  and  songs  told  me  that  the  Colonel's 
hospitality    was   being  fully  appreciated. 

195 


196  A    MAN    OF    MARK. 

There  was  dancing  going  on  to  the  strains 
of  the  militarj^  band,  and  every  sign  showed 
that  our  good  citizens  intended,  in  familiar 
phrase,  to  make  a  night  of  it. 

I  walked  swiftlj^  and  silently  down  to  the 
jetty.  Yes,  the  boat  was  all  right!  I  looked 
to  her  fires,  and  left  her  moored  by  one  rope, 
ready  to  be  launched  into  the  calm  black  sea 
in  an  instant.  Then  I  strolled  along  by  the 
harbor  side.  Here  I  met  a  couple  of  sen- 
tries. Innocently  I  entered  into  conversa- 
tion  with  them,  condoling  on  their  hard  fate 
in  being  kept  on  duty  while  pleasure  was  at 
the  helm  in  the  piazza.  Gently  deprecating 
such  excess  of  caution,  I  pointed  out  to  them 
the  stationary  lights  of  ^The  Songstress,' 
four  or  five  miles  out  to  sea,  and  with  a  re- 
spectful smile  at  the  Colonel's  uneasiness, 
left  the  seed  I  had  sown  to  grow  in  pre- 
pared soil.  I  dared  do  no  more,  and  had  to 
trust  for  the  rest  to  their  natural  inclina- 
tion to  the  neglect  of  duty. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  bottom  of  Liberty 
Street,  I  ensconsed  myself  in  the  shelter  of  a 
little  group  of  trees  which  stood  at  one  side 
of  the  roadway.  Just  across  the  road, 
which  ran  at  right  angles  to  the  street,  the 


FAREWELL   TO   AUREATALAND.  197 

wood  began,  and  a  quarter  of  an  hour's 
walk  through  its  shades  would  bring  us  to 
the  jetty  where  the  boat  lay.  My  trees 
made  a  perfect  screen,  and  here  I  stood 
awaiting  events.  For  some  time  nothing 
was  audible  but  an  ever-increasing  tumult 
of  joviality  from  the  Piazza.  But  after 
about  twentv  minutes  I  awoke  to  the  fact 
that  a  constant  dribble  of  men,  singly  or  in 
pairs,  had  begun  to  flow  past  me  from  the 
Piazza,  down  Liberty  Street,  across  the 
road  behind  me,  and  into  the  wood.  Some 
were  in  uniform,  others  dressed  in  common 
clothes;  one  or  two  I  recognized  as  mem- 
bers of  Johnny  Carr's  missing  band.  The 
strong  contrast  between  the  prevailing  rev- 
elry and  the  stealthy,  cautious  air  of  these 
passers-by  would  alone  have  suggested  that 
they  were  bent  on  business;  putting  two 
and  two  together  I  had  not  the  least  doubt 
that  they  were  the  President's  adherents 
making  their  way  down  to  the  water's  edge 
to  receive  their  chief.  So  he  was  com- 
ing; the  letter  had  done  its  work!  Some 
fifty  or  more  must  have  come  and  gone  be- 
fore the  stream  ceased,  and  I  reflected,  with 


198  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

groat  satisfaction,  that  the  Colonel  was 
likely  to  have  his  hands  very  full  in  the  next 
hour  or  two. 

Half-an-honr  or  so  passed  uneventfully; 
the  bonfire  still  blazed;  the  songs  and 
dancing  were  still  in  full  swing.  It  was 
close  upon  the  fateful  hour  of  two,  when, 
looking  from  my  hiding-place,  I  saw  a  slight 
figure  in  black  coming  quickly  and  fearfully 
along  the  road. 

I  recognized  the  Signorina  at  once,  as 
I  should  recognize  her  any  day  among  a 
thousand,  and,  as  she  paused  nearly  oppo- 
site where  I  was,  I  gently  called  her  name 
and  showed  myself  for  a  moment.  She  ran 
to  me  at  once. 

"Is  it  all  right?"  she  asked,  breathlessly. 

"We  shall  see  in  a  moment,"  said  I.  "The 
attack  is  coming  off;  it  will  begin  directly." 

But  the  attack  was  not  the  next  thing 
we  saw.  We  had  both  retreated  again  to 
the  friendly  shadow  whence  we  could  see 
without  being  seen.  Hardly  had  we  set- 
tled ourselves  than  the  Signorina  whis- 
pered to  me,  pointing  across  the  road  to  the 
wood: 


FAREWELL   TO    AUREATALAND.  199 

"What's  that,  Jack?" 

I  followed  the  line  of  her  finger  and  made 
out  a  row  of  figures  standing  motionless 
and  still  on  the  very  edge  of  the  wood.  It 
was  too  dark  to  distinguish  individuals;  but 
even  as  we  looked  the  silent  air  wafted  to 
our  eager  ears  a  low-voiced  word  of  com- 
mand : 

"Mind,  not  a  sound  till  I  give  the  word." 

"The  President!"  exclaimed  the  Signo- 
rina,  in  a  loud  whisper. 

"Hush,  or  he'll  hear,"  said  I,  "and  we're 
done." 

Clearly  nothing  would  happen  from  that 
quarter  till  it  was  called  forth  by  events  in 
the  opposite  direction.  The  Signorina 
was  strongly  agitated;  she  clung  to  me 
closely,  and  I  saw  with  alarm  that  the  very 
proximity  of  the  man  she  stood  in  such  awe 
of  was  too  much  for  her  composure.  When 
I  had  soothed,  and  I  fear  half-frightened, 
her  into  stillness,  I  again  turned  my  eyes 
toward  the  Piazza.  The  fire  had  at  last 
flickered  out  and  the  revels  seemed  on  the 
wane.  Suddenly  a  body  of  men  appeared 
in  close  order,  marching  down  the  street 


200  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

toward  the  bank.  We  stood  perhaps  a  hun- 
dred yards  from  that  building,  which  was, 
in  its  turn,  about  two  huiidi-ed  from  the 
Piazza.  Steadily  they  came  along;  no  sound 
reached  us  from  the  wood. 

"This  is  getting  interesting,"  I  said. 
"There'll  be  trouble  soon." 

As  near  as  1  could  see,  the  Colonel's  band, 
for  such  it  was  no  doubt,  did  not  number 
more  than  five-and-twenty  at  the  outside. 
Now  they  w^ere  at  the  bank.  I  could  hardly 
see  what  happened,  but  there  seemed  to  be 
a  moment's  pause;  probably  someone  had 
knocked  and  they  w^ere  w^aiting.  A  second 
later  a  loud  shout  rang  through  the  street 
and  I  saw  a  group  of  figures  crowding 
round  the  door  and  pushing  a  way  into  my 
poor  bank. 

"The  gods  preserve  Jones!'"  I  whispered. 
"I  hope  the  old  fool  won't  try  to  stop  them." 

As  I  spoke,  I  heard  a  short,  sharp  order 
from  behind,  "Now!  Charge!" 

As  the  word  w^^is  given  another  body  of 
fifty  or  more  rushed  by  us  full  tilt,  and  at 
their  head  we  saw  the  President,  sword  in 
hand,  running  like  a  young  man  and  beck- 


FAREWELL   TO   AUREATALAND.  201 

oning  his  men  on.  Up  the  street  they 
swept.  Involuntarily  we  waited  a  moment 
to  watch  them.  Just  as  they  came  near  the 
bank  they  sent  up  a  shout : 

"The  President!  the  President!  Death  to 
traitors!" 

Then  there  was  a  volley,  and  they  closed 
round  the  building. 

"Now  for  our  turn,  Christina,"  said  I. 

She  grasped  my  arm  tightly,  and  we  sped 
across  the  road  and  into  the  wood.  It 
seemed  darker  than  when  I  came  through 
before,  or  perhaps  my  eyes  were  dazzled  by 
the  glare  of  the  street  lamps.  But  still  we 
got  along  i>retty  well,  I  helping  my  com- 
panion with  all  my  power. 

"Can  we  do  it?"  she  gasped. 

"Please  God,"  said  I;  "a  clear  quarter 
of  an  hour  v/ill  do  it,  and  they  ought  to  take 
that  to  finish  oil'  the  Colonel."  For  I  had 
little  doubt  of  the  issue  of  that  mel^e. 

On  we  sped,  and  already  we  could  see  the 
twinkle  of  the  waves  through  the  thinning 
trees.  Five  hundred  vards  more,  and  there 
lay  life  and  liberty  and  love! 

Well,  of   course,  I    might    have  known. 


202  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

Everything  had  gone  so  smoothly  up  to 
now,  that  any  student  of  the  laws  of  chance 
could  have  foretold  that  fortune  was  only 
delaying  the  inevitable  slap  in  the  face.  A 
plan  that  seemed  wild  and  risky  had  proved 
in  the  result  as  effectual  as  the  wisest 
scheme.  By  a  natural  principle  of  com- 
pensation, the  simplest  obstacle  was  to 
bring  us  to  grief.  "There's  mauy  a  slip," 
says  the  proverb.  Very  likely!  One  was 
enough  for  our  business.  For  just  as  we 
neared  the  edge  of  the  wood,  just  as  our 
eyes  were  gladdened  by  the  full  sight  of  the 
sea  across  the  intervening  patch  of  bare 
land,  the  Signorina  gave  a  cry  of  pain  and, 
in  spite  of  my  arm,  fell  heavily  to  the 
ground.  In  a  moment  I  was  on  my  knees 
by  her  side.  An  old  root  growing  out  of 
the  ground!  That  was  all!  And  there  lay 
my  dear  girl  white  and  still. 

'^What  is  it,  sweet?"  I  whispered. 

"My  ankle!"  she  murmured;  "oh.  Jack, 
it  hurts  so!"  and  with  that  she  fainted. 

Half-an-hour — thirty  mortal  (but  seem- 
ingly immortal)  minutes  T  knelt  by  her  side 
ministering  to  her.     I  bound  up  the  poor 


FAREWELL   TO   AURBATALAND.  203 

foot,  gave  her  brandy  from  my  flask,  and 
I  fanned  her  face  with  my  handkerchief. 
In  a  few  minutes  she  came  to,  but  only, 
poor  child,  to  sob  with  her  better  pain. 
Move  she  could  not,  and  would  not.  Again 
and  again  she  entreated  me  to  go  and  leave 
her.  At  last  I  persuaded  her  to  try  and 
bear  the  agony  of  being  carried  in  my  arms 
the  rest  of  the  way.  I  raised  her  as  gently 
as  I  could,  wrung  to  the  heart  by  her  gal- 
lantly-stifled groan,  and  slowly  and  pain- 
fully I  made  my  way,  thus  burthened,  to  the 
edge  of  the  wood.  There  were  no  sentries 
in  sight,  and  with  a  new  spasm  of  hope  I 
crossed  the  open  land  and  neared  the  little 
wicket  gate  that  led  to  the  jetty.  A  sharp 
turn  came  just  before  we  reached  it,  and, 
as  I  rounded  this  with  the  Signorina  lying 
yet  in  my  arms,  I  saw  a  horse  and  a  man 
standing  by  the  gate.  The  horse  was 
flecked  with  foam  and  had  been  ridden 
furiously.  The  man  was  calm  and  cool.  Of 
course  he  was!     It  was  the  President! 

My  hands  were   full    with    my    burden, 
and  before  I  could  do  anything,  I  saw  the 


204  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

muzzle  of  his  revolver  pointed  full —  At 
me?    Oh,  uo!     At  the  Sigiiorina! 

"If  you  move  a  step  I  shoot  her  through 
the  heart,  Martin,"  he  said,  in  the  quietest 
voice  imaginable. 

The  Signorina  looked  up  as  she  heard  his 
voice. 

"Put  me  down,  Jack!  It's  no  use,"  she 
said;  "I  knew  how  it  would  be." 

I  did  not  put  her  down,  but  I  stood  there 
helpless,  rooted  to  the  ground. 

"What's  the  matter  with  her?"  he  said. 

"Fell  and  sprained  her  ankle,"  I  replied. 

"Come,  Martin,"  said  he,  "it's  no  go,  and 
you  know  it.  A  near  thing;  but  you've  just 
lost." 

"Are  you  going  to  stop  us?"  I  said. 

"Of  course  I  am,"  said  he. 

"Let  me  put  her  down,  and  we'll  have  a 
fair  fight." 

He  shook  his  head. 

"All  very  well  for  young  men,"  he  said. 
"At  my  age  if  a  man  holds  trumps  he  keeps 
them." 

"How  long  have  you  been  here?" 

"About  two  minutes.     When  I  didn't  see 


FAEET\ELL   TO   AUREAT ALAND.  205 

you  at  the  bank  I  thought  something  was 
up,  so  I  galloped  on  to  her  house.  No  one 
there!  So  I  came  on  here.  A  good  shot, 
eh?" 

The  fall  had  done  it.  But  for  that  we 
should  have  been  safe. 

"Well?"  he  said. 

In  the  bitterness  of  my  heart  I  could 
hardly  speak.  But  I  was  not  going  to  play 
either  the  cur  or  the  fool,  so  I  said : 

"Your  trick,  sir,  and  therefore  your  lead! 
I  must  do  what  you  tell  me." 

"Honor  bright,  Martin?" 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "I  give  you  my  word.  Take 
the  revolver  if  you  like,"  and  I  nodded  my 
head  to  the  pocket  where  it  lay. 

"No,"  he  said,  "I  trust  you." 

"I  bar  a  rescue,"  said  I. 

"There  will  be  no  rescue,"  said  he  grimly. 

"If  the  Colonel  comes — " 

"The  Colonel  won't  come,"  he  said. 
"TV'hose  house  is  that?" 

It  was  my  boatman's. 

"Bring  her  there.  Poor  child,  she  suf- 
fers!" 

We  knocked  up  the  boatman,  who  thus 


20b  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

did  not  get  his  nigiit's  rest  after  all.  His 
astonishment  may  be  imagined. 

"Have  you  a  bed?"  said  the  President. 

"Yes,"  he  stammered,  recognizing  his  in- 
terlocutor. 

"Then  carry  her  up,  Martin;  and  you, 
send  your  wife  to  her." 

I  took  her  up,  and  laid  her  gently  on  the 
bed.  The  President  followed  me.  Then 
we  went  downstairs  again  into  the  little 
parlor. 

"Let  us  have  a  talk,"  he  said,  and  he 
added  to  the  man,  "Oive  us  some  brandy, 
quick!     And  then  go." 

He  was  obeyed,  and  we  were  left  alone, 
with  the  dim  light  of  a  single  candle. 

The  President  sat  down  and  began  to 
smoke.  He  offered  me  a  cigar  and  I  took  it, 
but  he  said  nothing.  I  was  surprised  at  his 
leisurely  abstracted  air.  Apparently  he 
had  nothing  in  the  world  to  do  but  sit  and 
keep  me  company. 

"If  your  Excellency,"  said  I,  instinctively 
giving  him  his  old  title,  "has  business  else- 
where you  can  leave  me  safely.  I  shall  not 
break  my  word." 


FAREWELL,  TO   AUREATALAND.  207 

"I  know  that,  I  know  that,"  he  answered. 
"But  I'd  rather  stay  here;  I  want  to  have  a 
talk." 

"But  aren't  there  some  things  to  settle  up 
in  the  town?" 

"The  doctor's  doing  all  that,"  he  said. 
"You  see,  there's  no  danger  now.  There's 
no  one  left  to  lead  them  against  me." 

"Then  the  Colonel  is—?'* 

"Yes,"  he  said  gravely,  "he  is  dead.  I 
shot  him." 

"In  the  attack?" 

"Not  exactly;  the  fighting  was  over,  A 
very  short  affair,  Martin.  They  never  had 
a  chance;  and  as  soon  as  two  or  three  had 
fallen  and  the  rest  saw  me,  they  threw  up 
the  sponge." 

"And  the  Colonel?" 

"He  fought  well.  He  killed  two  of  my 
fellows;  then  a  lot  of  them  flung  them- 
selves on  him  and  disarmed  him." 

"And  you  killed  him  in  cold  blood?" 

The  President  smiled  slightly. 

"Six  men  fell  in  that  affair — five  besides 
the  Colonel.     Does  it  strike  you  that  you,  in 

14 


208  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

fact,  killed  the  five  to  enable  you  to  run 
away  with  the  girl  you  loved?" 

It  hadn't  struck  me  in  that  light,  but  it 
was  quite  irrelevant. 

"But  for  your  scheme  I  should  have  come 
back  without  a  blow,"  he  continued;  "but 
then  I  should  have  shot  McGregor  just  the 
same." 

"Because  he  led  the  revolt?" 

"Because,"  said  the  President,  "he  has 
been  a  traitor  from  the  beginning  even  to 
the  end — because  he  tried  to  rob  me  of  all 
I  held  dear  in  the  world.  If  vou  like,"  he 
added,  with  a  shrug,  "because  he  stood  be- 
tween me  and  my  will.  So  I  went  up  to 
him  and  told  him  his  hour  was  come, 
and  I  shot  him  through  the  head.  He  died 
like  a  man,  Martin ;  I  will  say  that." 

I  could  not  pretend  to  regret  the  dead 
man.  Indeed,  I  had  been  near  doing  the 
same  deed  myself.  But  I  shrank  before 
this  calm  ruthlessness. 

Another  long  pause  followed.  Then 
the  President  said: 

"I'm  sorry  for  all  this,  Martin — sorry  you 
and  I  came  to  blows." 


./ 


FAREWELL  TO  AUREATALAND.  209 

"You  played  me  false  about  the  money," 
I  said  bitterly. 

"Yes,  yes,"  he  answered  gently;  "I  don't 
blame  you.  You  were  bound  to  me  by  no 
ties.     Of  course  3'ou  saw  my  plan?" 

"I  supposed  your  Excellency  meant  to 
keep  the  money  and  throw  me  over." 

"Not  altogether,"  he  said.  "Of  course  I 
was  bound  to  have  the  money.  But  it  was 
the  other  thing,  you  know\  As  far  as  the 
money  went,  I  would  have  taken  care  you 
came  to  no  harm." 

"What  was  it,  then?" 

"I  thought  you  understood  all  along," 
he  said  with  some  surprise.  "I  saw  you 
were  my  rival  \\ith  Christina,  and  my  game 
W' as  to  drive  you  out  of  the  country  by  mak- 
ing the  place  too  hot  for  you." 

"She  told  me  you  didn't  suspect  about  me 
and  her  till  quite  the  end." 

"Did  she?"  he  answered  with  a  smile;  "I 
must  be  getting  clever  to  deceive  two  such 
wide-awake  young  people.  Of  course  I 
saw  it  all  along.  But  you  had  more  grit 
than  I  thought.  I've  never  been  so  nearly 
done  by  any  man  as  by  you." 

/^ 

r 


210  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

"But  for  luck  you  would  have  been," 
said  I. 

"Yes,  but  I  count  luck  as  one  of  my  re- 
sources," be  replied. 

"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  now?" 

He  took  no  notice,  but  went  on. 

"You  played  too  high.  It  was  all  or 
nothing  with  you,  just  as  it  is  with  me.  But 
for  that  we  could  have  stood  together.  I'm 
sorry,  Martin;  I  like  you,  you  know." 

For  the  life  of  me  I  had  never  been  able 
to  help  liking  him. 

"But  likings  mustn't  interfere  with  duty," 
he  went  on,  smiling.  "What  claim  have 
you  at  my  hands?" 

"Decent  burial,  I  suppose,"  I  answered. 

He  got  up  and  paced  the  room  for  a  mo- 
ment or  two.  I  waited  with  some  anxiety, 
for  life  is  worth  something  to  a  young  man, 
even  when  things  look  blackest,  and  I  never 
was  a  hero. 

"I  make  you  this  offer,"  he  said  at  last. 
"Your  boat  lies  there  ready.  Get  into  her 
and  go.     Otherwise — " 

"I  see,"  said  I.  "And  vou  will  marrv 
her?'' 


FAREWELL   TO  AURKATALAND.  211 

"Yes,"  he  said. 

"Against  her  will?" 

He  looked  at  me  with  something  like  pity. 

"Who  can  tell  what  a  woman's  will  will 
be  in  a  week?  In  less  than  that  she  will 
marry  me  cheerfully.  I  hope  yon  may 
grieve  as  short  a  time  as  she  will." 

In  my  inmost  heart  I  knew  it  was  true. 
I  had  staked  everything,  not  for  a  woman's 
love,  but  for  the  whim  of  a  girl!  For  a 
moment  it  was  too  hard  for  me,  and  I  bowed 
mj^  head  on  the  table  by  me  and  hid  my  face. 

Then  he  came  and  put  his  hand  on  mine, 
and  said: 

"Yes,  Martin;  young  and  old,  we  are  all 
alike.  They're  not  worth  quarreling  for. 
But  Nature's  too  strong." 

"May  I  see  her  before  I  go?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  said. 

"Alone?" 

"Yes,"  he  said  once  more.  "Go  now — if 
she  can  see  you." 

I  went  up  and  cautiously  opened  the 
door.  The  Signorina  was  lying  on  the  bed, 
with  a  shawl  over  her.  She  seemed  to  be 
asleep.     I  bent  over  her  and  kissed  her. 


212  A  MAN  OP  MARK, 

She  opened  her  eyes,  and  said,  in  a  weary 
voice: 

"Is  it  YOU,  Jack?" 

"Yes,  my  darling,"  said  I.  "I  am  going. 
I  must  go  or  die;  and  whether  I  go  or  die, 
I  must  be  alone." 

She  was  strangely  quiet,  even  apathetic. 
As  I  knelt  down  by  her  she  raised  herself, 
and  took  my  face  between  her  hands  and 
kissed  me,  not  passionately,  but  tenderly. 

"My  poor  Jack!"  she  said;  '4t  was  no  use, 
dear.     It  is  no  use  to  fight  against  him." 

Here  was  her  strange  subjection  to  that 
influence  again. 

"You  love  me?"  I  cried  in  my  pain. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "but  I  am  very  tired; 
and  he  will  be  good  to  me." 

Without  another  word  I  went  from  her, 
with  the  bitter  knowledge  that  my  great 
grief  found  but  a  pale  reflection  in  her 
heart. 

"I  am  ready  to  go,"  I  said  to  the  Presi- 
dent. 

"Come,  then,"  he  replied.  "Here,  take 
these,  you  may  want  them,"  and  he  thrust  a 


FAREWELL  TO  AUREATALAND.  213 

bundle  of  notes  into  my  hand  (some  of  my 
own  from  the  bank  I  afterward  discovered). 

Arrived  at  the  boat,  I  got  in  mechanical- 
ly and  made  all  preparations  for  the  start. 

Then  the  President  took  my  hand. 

"Good-bye,  Jack  Martin,  and  good  luck. 
Some  day  w^e  may  meet  again.  Just  now 
there's  no  room  for  us  both  here.  You  bear 
no  malice?" 

"No,  sir,"  said  I.  "A  fair  fight,  and 
vou've  won." 

As  I  was  pushing  off,  he  added: 

"When  you  arrive,  send  me  word." 

I  nodded  silently. 

"Good-bye,  and  good  luck,"  he  said  again. 

I  turned  the  boat's  head  out  to  sea,  and 
went  forth  on  my  lonely  way  into  the  night. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A  DIPLOMATIC  ARRANGEMENT. 

As  far  as  I  am  concerned,  this  story  has 
now  reached  an  end.  With  my  departure 
from  Aureataland  I  re-entered  the  world 
of  humdrum  life,  and  since  that  memorable 
night  in  1884,  nothing  has  befallen  me 
worthy  of  a  polite  reader's  attention.  I 
have  endured  the  drudgery  incident  to 
earning  a  living;  I  have  enjoyed  the  relaxa- 
tions every  wise  man  makes  for  himself. 
But  I  should  be  guilty  of  unpardonable 
egotism  if  I  supposed  that  I  myself  was  the 
only,  or  the  most,  interesting  subject  pre- 
sented in  the  foregoing  pages,  and  I  feel  I 
shall  merely  be  doing  my  duty  in  briefly  re- 
cording the  facts  in  my  possession  concern- 
ing the  other  persons  who  have  figured  in 
this  record  and  the  country  w^here  its  scene 
was  laid. 

I  did  not,  of  course,  return  to  England  on 
leaving  Aureataland.     T  had  no  desire  to 

214 


A  DIPLOMATIC  ARRANGEMENT.  215 

explain  in  person  to  the  directors  all  the 
facts  with  which  they  will  now  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  acquaint  themselves.  I  was  con- 
scious that,  at  the  last  at  all  events,  I  had 
rather  subordinated  their  interests  to  my 
own  necessities,  and  I  knew  well  that  my 
conduct  would  not  meet  with  the  indulgent 
judgment  that  it  perhaps  requires.  After 
all,  men  who  have  lost  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  can  hardly  be  expected  to  be 
impartial,  and  I  saw  no  reason  for  submit- 
ting myself  to  a  biased  tribunal.  I  pre- 
ferred to  seek  my  fortune  in  a  fresh  coun- 
try (and,  I  may  add,  under  a  fresh  name), 
and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  my  prosperity 
in  the  land  of  my  adoption  has  gone  far  to 
justify  the  President's  favorable  estimate 
of  my  financial  abilities.  My  sudden  disap- 
pearance excited  some  remark,  and  people 
were  even  found  to  insinuate  that  the  dol- 
lars went  the  same  way  as  I  did.  I  have 
never  troubled  myself  to  contradict  these 
scandalous  rumors,  being  content  to  rely  on 
the  handsome  vindication  from  this  charge 
which  the  President  published.  In  ad- 
dressing the  House  of   Assembly    shortly 


216  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

after  his  resumption  of  power,  he  referred  at 
length  to  the  circumstances  attendant  on 
the  late  revolution,  and  remarked  that  al- 
though he  was  unable  to  acquit  Mr.  Martin 
of  most  unjustifiable    intrigues    with    the 
rebels,  yet  he  was  in  a  position  to  assure 
them,  as  he  had  already  assured  those  to 
whom  Mr,  Martin  was  primarily  responsi- 
ble, that  that  gentleman's  hasty  flight  was 
dictated  solely  by  a  consciousness  of  politi- 
cal guilt,  and  that,  in  money  matters,  Mr. 
Martin's  hands  were  as  clean  as  his  own. 
The  reproach  that  had  fallen  on  the  fair 
fame  of  Aureataland  in  this  matter  was  due 
not  to  that  able  but  misguided  young  man, 
but  to  those  unprincipled  persons  who,  in 
the  pursuit  of  their  designs,  had  not  hesi- 
tated to  plunder  and  despoil  friendly  trad- 
ers, established  in  the  country  under  the 
sanction  of  public  faith. 

The  reproach  to  which  his  Excellency 
eloquentl,y  referred  consisted  in  the  fact 
that  not  a  cent  of  those  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  which  lay  in  the  bank  that 
night  was  ever  seen  again!  The  theory 
was  that  the  Colonel  had  made  away  with 


A  DIPLOMATIC   ARRANGEMENT.  217 

them,  and  the  President  took  great  pains 
to  prove  that  under  the  law  of  nations  the 
restored  Government  could  not  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  this  occurrence.  I  know  as 
little  about  the  law  of  nations  as  the  Presi- 
dent himself,  but  I  felt  quite  sure  that  what- 
ever that  exalted  code  might  say  (and  it 
generally  seems  to  justify  the  conduct  of 
all  parties  alike),  none  of  that  money  would 
ever  find  its  way  back  to  the  directors' 
pockets.  In  this  matter  I  must  say  his  Ex- 
cellency behaved  to  me  w^ith  scrupulous 
consideration;  not  a  word  passed  his  lips 
about  the  second  loan,  about  that  unlucky 
cable,  or  any  other  dealings  with  the  money. 
For  all  he  said,  my  account  of  the  matter, 
posted  to  the  directors  immediately  after 
my  departure,  stood  unimpeached.  The  di- 
rectors, however,  took  a  view  opposed  to  his 
Excellencv's,  and  relations  became  so 
strained  that  they  w^ere  contemplating  the 
withdrawal  of  their  business  from  Whit- 
tingham  altogether,  when  events  occurred 
which  modified  their  action.  Before  I  lay 
down  my  pen  I  must  give  some  account  of 
these  matters,  and  I  cannot  do  so  better 


218  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

thao  by  inserting  a  letter  which  I  had  the 
honor  to  receive  from  his  Excellency,  some 
two  years  after  I  last  saw  him.  I  had 
obeyed  his  wish  in  communicating  my  ad- 
dress to  him,  but  up  to  this  time  had  re- 
ceived only  a  short  but  friendly  note,  ac- 
quainting me  with  the  fact  of  his  marriage 
to  the  Signorina,  and  expressing  good 
wishes  for  my  welfare  in  my  new  sphere  of 
action.  The  matters  to  which  the  Presi- 
dent refers  became  to  some  extent  public 
property  soon  afterward,  but  certain  other 
terms  of  the  arrangement  are  now  given  to 
the  world  for  the  first  time. 
The  letter  ran  as  follows: 

"My  Dear  Martin — As  an  old  inhabitant 
of  Aureataland,  you  will  be  interested  in 
the  news  I  have  to  tell  you.  I  also  take 
pleasure  in  hoping  that,  in  spite  of  by-gone 
differences,  your  friendly  feelings  toward 
myself  will  make  you  glad  to  hear  news  of 
my  fortunes. 

"You  are  no  doubt  acquainted  generally 
with  the  course  of  events  here  since  you 
left  us.     As  regards  private  friends,  I  have 


A  DIPLOMATIC   ARRANGEMENT.  219 

not  indeed  much  to  tell  you.  You  will  not 
be  surprised  to  learn  that  Johnny  Carr  (who 
always  speaks  of  you  with  the  utmost  re- 
gard) has  done  the  most  sensible  thing  he 
ever  did  in  his  life  in  making  Donna  An- 
tonia  his  wife.  She  is  a  thoroughly  good 
girl,  although  she  seems  to  have  a  very 
foolish  prejudice  against  Christina.  I  was 
able  to  assist  the  young  people's  plans  by 
the  gift  of  the  late  Colonel  McGregor's  es- 
tates, which  under  our  law  passed  to  the 
Head  of  the  State  on  that  gentleman's  ex- 
ecution for  high  treason.  You  will  be 
amused  to  hear  of  another  marriage  in  our 
circle.  The  doctor  and  Madame  Devarges 
have  made  a  match  of  it,  and  society  re- 
joices to  think  it  has  now  heard  the  last  of 
the  late  monsieur  and  his  patriotic  suffer- 
ings. Jones,  I  suppose  you  know,  left  us 
about  a  year  ago.  The  poor  old  fellow 
never  recovered  from  his  fright  on  that 
night,  to  say  nothing  of  the  cold  he  caught 
in  your  draughty  coal-cellar,  where  he  took 
refuge.  The  bank  relieved  him  in  response 
to  his  urgent  petitions,  and  they've  sent  us 
out  a  young  Puritan,  to  whom  it  would  be 


220  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

quite  in  vain  to  apply  for  a  timely  little 
loan. 

"I  wish  I  could  give  you  as  satisfactory 
an  account  of  public  affairs.  You  w^ere 
more  or  less  behind  the  scenes  over  here,  so 
you  know  that  to  keep  the  machine  going 
is  by  no  means  an  easy  task.  I  have  kept 
it  going,  single-handed,  for  fifteen  years, 
and  though  it's  the  custom  to  call  me  a  mere 
adventurer  (and  I  don't  say  that's  wrong), 
upon  my  word  I  think  I've  given  them  a 
pretty  decent  Government.  But  I've  had 
enough  of  it  by  now.  The  fact  is,  my  dear 
Martin,  I'm  not  so  young  as  I  was.  In 
years  I'm  not  much  past  middle  age,  but 
I've  had  the  devil  of  a  life  of  it,  and  I 
shouldn't  be  surprised  if  old  Marcus  Whit- 
tingham's  lease  was  pretty  nearly  up.  At 
any  rate,  my  only  chance,  so  Anderson  tells 
me,  is  to  get  a  rest,  and  I'm  going  to  give 
myself  that  chance.  I  had  thought  at  first 
of  trying  to  find  a  successor  (as  I  have  been 
denied  an  heir  of  my  body),  and  I  thought  of 
you.  But,  while  I  was  considering  this,  I 
received  a  confidential  proposal  from  the 
Government  of  "  (here  the  President 


A   DIPLOMATIC   ARRANGEMENT.  221 

named  the  state  of  which  Aureataland  had 
formed  part).  "They  were  very  anxious  to 
get  back  their  province;  at  the  same  time, 
they  were  not  at  all  anxious  to  try  con- 
clusions with  me  again.  In  short,  they  of- 
fered, if  Aureataland  would  come  back,  a 
guarantee  of  local  autonomy  and  full  free- 
dom; they  would  take  on  themselves  the 
burden  of  the  debt,  and  last,  but  not  least, 
they  would  offer  the  present  President  of 
the  Republic  a  compensation  of  |500,000. 
"I  have  not  yet  finally  accepted  the  offer, 
but  I  am  going  to  do  so — obtaining,  as  a 
matter  of  form,  the  sanction  of  the  Assem- 
blv.  I  have  made  them  double  their  offer 
to  me,  but  in  the  public  documents  the 
money  is  to  stand  at  the  original  figure. 
This  recognition  of  my  services,  together 
with  my  little  savings  (restored,  my  dear 
Martin,  to  the  wash-stand),  will  make  me 
pretty  comfortable  in  my  old  age,  and  leave 
a  competence  for  my  widow.  Aureataland 
has  had  a  run  alone;  if  there  had  been  any 
grit  in  the  people  they  would  have  made  a 
nation  of  themselves.  There  isn't  any,  and 
I'm  not  going  to  slave  myself  for  them  any 


222  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

longer.  No  doubt  they'll  be  very  well 
treated,  and  to  tell  the  truth,  I  don't  much 
care  if  they  aren't.  After  all,  they're  a 
mongrel  lot. 

"I  know  you'll  be  pleased  to  hear  of  this 
arrangement,  as  it  gives  your  old  masters 
a  better  chance  of  getting  their  money,  for, 
between  ourselves,  they'd  never  have  got 
it  out  of  me.  At  the  risk  of  shocking  your 
feelings,  I  must  confess  that  your  revolu- 
tion only  postponed  the  day  of  repudiation. 

"I  hoped  to  have  asked  you  some  day  to 
rejoin  us  here.  As  matters  stand,  I  am 
more  likely  to  come  and  find  you ;  for,  when 
released,  Christina  and  I  are  going  to  bend 
our  steps  to  the  States.  And  we  hope  to 
come  soon.  The^e^s  a  little  difficulty  out- 
standing about  the  terms  on  which  the 
Golden  House  and  my  other  property  are  to 
pass  to  the  new  Government;  this  I  hope  to 
compromise  by  abating  half  my  claim  in 
private,  and  giving  it  all  up  in  public.  Also 
T  have  had  to  bargain  for  the  recognition  of 
Johnny  Carr's  rights  to  the  Colonel's  goods. 
When  all  this  is  settled  there  will  be  noth- 
ing to  keep  me,  and  I  shall  leave  here  with- 


A   DIPLOMATIC   ARRANGEMENT.  223 

out  much  reluctance.  The  first  man  I  shall 
come  and  see  is  you,  and  we'll  have  some 
frolics  together,  if  my  old  carcass  holds  out. 
But  the  truth  is,  my  boy,  I'm  not  the  man  I 
was.  I've  put  too  much  steam  on  all  my 
life,  and  I  must  pull  up  now,  or  the  boiler 
will  burst. 

"Christina  sends  her  love.  She  is  as 
anxious  to  see  you  as  I  am.  But  you  must 
wait  till  I  am  dead  to  make  love  to  her. 

"Ever  your  sincere  friend, 

"Marcus  W.  Whittingham." 

As  I  write,  I  hear  that  the  arrangement 
is  to  be  carried  out.  So  ends  Aureata- 
land's  brief  history  as  a  nation ;  so  ends  the 
story  of  her  national  debt,  more  happily 
than  I  ever  thought  it  would.  I  confess  to 
a  tender  recollection  of  the  sunny,  cheerful, 
lazy,  dishonest  little  place,  where  I  spent 
four  such  eventful  years.  Perhaps  I  love 
it  because  my  romance  was  played  there, 
as  I  should  love  any  place  where  I  had  seen 
the  Signorina.  For  I  am  not  cured,  I  don't 
go  about  moaning — I  enjoy  life.  But,  in 
spite  of  mv  affection  for  the  President,  hard- 

16 


224  A  MAN  OF  MARK. 

ly  a  day  passes  that  I  don't  curse  that  ac- 
cursed tree-root. 

And  she?     What  does  she  feel  ? 

I  don't  know.  I  don't  think  I  ever  did 
know.  But  I  have  had  a  note  from  her, 
and  this  is  what  she  says: 

"Fancy  seeing  old  Jack  again — poor  for- 
saken Jack !  Marcus  is  very  kind  (but  very 
ill,  poor  fellow);  but  I  shall  like  to  see  you, 
Jack.  Do  you  remember  what  I  was  like? 
I'm  still  rather  pretty.  This  is  in  con- 
fidence, Jack.     Marcus  thinks    you'll    run 

away  from  us,  now  we  are  coming  to 

town"  (that's  where  I  live).  "But  I  don't 
think  you  will. 

"Please  meet  me  at  the  depot,  Jack,  12:15 
train.  Marcus  is  coming  by  a  later  one,  so 
T  shall  be  desolate  if  you  don't  come.  And 
bring  that  white  rose  with  you.  Unless 
you  produce  it,  I  won't  speak  to  you. 

"Christina." 

Well,  with  another  man's  wife,  this  is 
rather  embarrassing.  But  a  business  man 
can't  leave  the  place  where  his  business  is 


A   DIPLOMATIC   ARRANGEMENT.  225 

because  a  foolish  girl  insists    on    coming 
there. 

And  as  I  am  here,  I  may  as  well  be  civil 
and  go  to  meet  her.  And,  oh,  well!  as  I 
happen  to  have  the  thing,  I  may  as  well  take 
it  with  me.     It  can't  do  any  harm. 

THE  END. 


V 


L  005  924  396  4 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


lllllllll 

AA    000  370  084    6 


^ 


